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1. Italy Tightens Short-Term Rental Rules
Italy's popular tourist destination Florence has now banned new short-term residential lets on home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb in its historic center, Reuters reports. The new measure, which was approved by the Tuscan city Monday, also offers three years of tax breaks to landlords of existing short-term rentals to shift to traditional leases.
"The 40,000 Florentines who live in the center are complaining about finding themselves, all of a sudden, living in apartment-hotels," Florence Mayor Dario Nardella said.
Meanwhile, as New York City also tightens its regulations against short-term rentals, CEO Brian Chesky said there's other services that it could launch in the city that don't relate to overnight stays, Bloomberg reports. This includes experiential-based services such as guided tours, bar crawls and photo shoots.
2. Shares of China's Evergrande Group Rise
Stock prices surged for Chinese property developer Evergrande Group, which has faced faltering consumer confidence and debt problems, after the company resumed trading in Hong Kong, CNBC reports.
The stock rose 20.3% and briefly reached 46 Hong Kong cents ($0.06) after the open. Shares had previously been volatile following a 17-month suspension. Evergrande's EV unit halted trading Tuesday due to a pending announcement.
"Evergrande’s market valuation has been hovering around 5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($639.8 million), a fraction of its value prior to the developer’s default in late 2021," the news outlet reports.
3. Sports Illustrated Resorts' Vision for College Towns
Sports Illustrated Resorts and Travel + Leisure Co. are partnering to bring resorts focused on sports culture, entertainment, fitness, health, wellness and food and beverage to various U.S. college towns. The first resort is slated to open in 2025 near the University of Alabama, reports Hotel News Now's Dana Miller.
In an interview with Hotel News Now about the recent partnership, Sports Hospitality Ventures CEO Chris Schroeder said the strategy for bringing these resorts to life will include rebrands of hotels.
"There's a lot of hotels out there that are looking to breathe some new life into them, and this is a great opportunity for rebrands. We are open to hotels that already are happy with their management company," he said.
4. Ryder Cup Drives Demand in Rome
The Ryder Cup, a biennial men's golf competition between European and American teams, has brought in thousands of fans from around the world. Tourism ministry data shows that as of Sept. 25, about 58% of rooms available on online channels had been booked in Rome's Lazio region, Reuters reports.
This was the first time that Italy hosted the competition.
"We understand, once again, the propulsive thrust that tourism receives from major sporting events," Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche said in a statement, adding the Ryder Cup as the underlying reason for the high numbers in the capital.
5. Investors, Tourists Head To Greece
A decade ago, Greece was up against debt it couldn't repay. Now, it's one of Europe's fastest-growing economies with multinational investors and tourists returning, the New York Times reports.
"Well over 10 million tourists swarmed into Greece this summer despite a spate of wildfires, bringing estimated revenues of over €21 billion ($22 billion). Construction has climbed on the mainland and on popular Greek islands, driven by a surging demand for hotels, Airbnb rentals and a program that lets foreigners get a visa to live in EU states if they buy at least €500,000 in real estate in Greece," the news outlet reports.