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1. IHG signs 14-hotel portfolio deal in Japan
IHG Hotels & Resorts signed a 14-hotel portfolio deal with partner GCP Hospitality in Kyoto, Japan, the company said in a news release. The portfolio includes 1,063 rooms and each hotel will be a conversion project. It will comprise 12 Garner hotels, one Holiday Inn Express and one unbranded hotel.
“This is a true milestone signing for IHG in Japan with one of our long-term partners, GCP Hospitality. With this agreement, we are expanding our mainstream presence quickly in Japan, reflecting both the strength of our brands and the growing confidence of owners in our business and our strong in-market team," Abhijay Sandilya, managing director of Japan and Micronesia for IHG Hotels & Resorts and CEO of IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan, said in the release.
2. US-Canada trade talks break down
Trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed late last week, leading to the U.S. enforcing a 50% tariff on about 5% of Canadian goods. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will respond with dollar-for-dollar countertariffs beginning on Sept. 8, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The neighboring countries appeared to be closing in on a deal last week. President Donald Trump posted "DEAL" on social media last Tuesday and Carney said negotiators made "substantial progress." The newspaper reports that both sides blamed the other for the deal coming apart.
“Last spring, I warned that America is trying to break us so they can own us and I promised that that will never, ever happen,” Carney said at an hourlong news conference on Saturday morning in Ottawa. “We are keeping that promise. Canada is becoming stronger and less dependent on America.”
3. How artificial intelligence will affect hotel search
Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed the way people search on the internet in general, including while booking hotel stays. Hoteliers are vying for their properties to show up in AI search results, and that starts with knowing how the technology works, CoStar News Hotels' Dan Kubacki reports.
Michael Goldrich, founder and chief adviser of Vivander Advisors and president of HSMAI New York, said hoteliers need to update their websites to have a better chance of populating in AI responses.
"Now people are putting into this [search] box — instead of keywords — a question, and instead of 10 blue links, you're getting one answer, an answer that's in a paragraph, and in this paragraph could be five to seven hotels. That's it. If you're not in that list of five to seven hotels, you're invisible," Goldrich said.
4. Wildfire causes tens of thousands to evacuate Reno
Authorities are urging about 90,000 people to evacuate the Reno, Nevada, area due to an out-of-control wildfire that has destroyed homes and has yet to be contained, the Associated Press reports. Officials said the fire was "human-caused."
"Some 42,000 residents have been ordered evacuated as the 'GO NOW' zone expanded, reaching the edge of the University of Nevada. An additional 45,000 people were in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. Authorities urged people to be prepared to stay away for several days, because shifting and strengthening winds were expected to make the fire even more unpredictable," the news outlet reports.
5. Maybourne owners shift ownership structure
Regis Maybourne and Selene SARL, a subsidiary of Constellation Hotels Holding Limited, have agreed to a new ownership structure for their shared portfolio of Maybourne hotels, according to a news release.
Regis Maybourne will be the sole owner of Claridge's in London, The Maybourne Riviera in the south of France and The Maybourne Beverly Hills in California. Constellation Hotels will own London hotels The Connaught, The Emory and The Berkeley.
"For many years, the close partnership between Constellation and Maybourne has created an unrivaled portfolio of the world's finest luxury hotels," said Gianluca Muzzi, CEO of Constellation Hotels. "Under this new ownership framework, we will continue to invest in the enduring success of these exceptional assets to ensure they remain the most celebrated luxury destinations for generations to come."