Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. InterContinental New York Times Square sells for $230 million
Highgate, Gencom and Argent Ventures have closed on their acquisition of the InterContinental New York Times Square for $230 million, the Real Deal reports. The seller of the 607-key property is a joint venture of Tishman Realty and Metlife Investment Management.
“After a couple of years of New York being in the doldrums, it’s kind of amazing the comeback that the city has endured thus far,” said Daniel Lesser of LW Hospitality Advisors. “The hotel business is really strong in New York, from a top-line perspective. There’s definitely a challenge with bringing profits down to the bottom line.”
2. The dawn of the AI travel influencers
Many travel companies, tourism boards and other businesses are using artificial intelligence travel influencers in their marketing campaigns as a way to lower costs, control the message better and turn around content faster, the New York Times reports. Expedia's 2025 Traveler Value Index found 73% of consumers said an influencer's recommendations influenced their decisions on destinations, hotel or other parts of a trip.
Qatar Airways has Sama, an AI flight attendant, on its website and social media. The German National Tourist Board has Emma, who promotes destinations around the country. Social media users' reactions have been varied, with some liking them while others try to prove they are AI.
Taliesin Black-Brown, 28, a filmmaker from Seattle, told the newspaper he now trusts what he sees online even less because “this stuff is even more inauthentic because it’s not even connected to someone’s real life experience.”
3. Interest rate cut a positive signal to hospitality industry, hoteliers say
The Federal Reserve's latest 25-basis-point cut in the federal funds rate is "a great gift for the industry heading into the new year," said Kamalesh Patel, chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, CoStar News Hotels reports. The lower borrowing costs will help hoteliers with everything from renovations to seasonal staffing, he added.
Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar, said the cut wasn't unexpected, but the divided vote points to the new rate holding for some time. Even so, the rate cuts this year should provide relief to borrowers who rely on long-term interest rates for refinancing or new construction loans.
“The combination of this lower interest rate and the compression of the bid-ask spread could signal that brokers will finally be correct with their annual announcements that ‘next year, transaction volume will be better,’” he said.
4. Fed Chair Powell says job numbers may be too high
While addressing reports at a news conference about the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate cut, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said federal data may be overestimating job creation by as much as 60,000 jobs a month, the Wall Street Journal reports. While published numbers show the economy added roughly 40,000 jobs a month since April, the real numbers could actually be a loss of about 20,000 jobs a month.
“We think there’s an overstatement in these numbers,” he said.
5. AAA projects record travel around holidays
AAA expects 122.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home between Dec. 20 and Jan. 1, a 2.2% year-over-year increase, according to a news release.
The projection breaks down to 109.5 million will travel by car, a 2% increase compared to 2024. Another 8.03 million are expected to take domestic flights this year, a 2.3% increase.