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1. Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels reports loss due to stagnant Chinese demand
Executives at Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels — the owner and operator of Peninsula Hotels and other brands — said in the company's half-year 2025 earnings report that its performance continues to be stifled by the persistent stagnant hotel demand in China. For the period ending June 30, the hotel group “incurred a loss attributable to shareholders of $289 million Hong Kong dollars ($37 million).” This was an improvement in year-over-year terms from the company's HK$448 million loss in the first half of 2024 due to good performance in its hotels outside of China.
The earnings report noted the firm’s Chinese hotels have benefited from “the positive impact of visa-free travel to China for many international markets, with the Middle East and Russia being particularly strong,” but “the general instability created by geopolitical concerns and trade tensions, which is challenging for tourism-related businesses, calls for prudent and careful management. We believe this will continue to negatively impact our hotels in Greater China.”
2. US tariff noise sees imports fall 4%
Imports into the U.S. in June declined by 4% from May as President Donald Trump’s tariff policy “discouraged businesses from ordering goods,” the New York Times reports. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, exports from the U.S. fell by 0.5% as the “overall trade deficit narrowed to $60.2 billion in June, down $11.5 billion from $71.7 billion in May.”
The New York Times added that forecasters anticipate “a deterioration in the months ahead, as tariffs disrupt supply chains and the Trump administration’s policies on immigration and government job cuts start to take a toll on the economy.” It added that weaker-than-expected job growth in May, June and July on Aug. 1 data “has provided more evidence for this view,” despite Trump’s anger and dismissal of those numbers.
3. Hotel companies look to expand pool of guests with buy now, pay later
More hotel guests are booking trips using buy-now-pay-later loans. While hotels are among the slowest to adopt the new payment method, hoteliers are beginning to offer such financing for guests booking directly via third-party lenders. CoStar News Hotels’ Natalie Harms writes that not all hotels have integrated BNPL, and experts say that is leaving money from a new generation of travelers on the table.
With nearly 20% of travelers said to be funding their summer travel by using BNPL, Tom Botts, president of Flex Pay at Upgrade, said that “offering BNPL is all about opening the aperture. It’s really become much more of a mainstream product, and this is how people want to pay. There's nothing shameful about it.”
4. KS Hotels & Resorts buys Park Hyatt Melbourne
KS Hotels & Resorts acquired the 245-room Park Hyatt Melbourne for a reputed 205 million Australian dollars ($129.5 million), a deal that marked the biggest hotel transaction in Australia so far in 2025, according to Real Commercial.
The seller is Beijing-based Fu Wah International, which acquired the hotel from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC in January 2014 for approximately AU$135 million.
5. Choice acquires remaining 50% stake of its Canadian franchising division
Choice Hotels International has acquired the remaining 50% share of Choice Hotels Canada from its joint-venture partner InnVest Hotels, thus ending its relationship with InnVest as its master franchiser and adopting a fully direct franchising model. A company news release said the transaction is valued at approximately $112 million and funded through available cash and an existing credit facility. The release added that “management expects the total Choice Hotels Canada business to generate approximately $23 million of fee revenue and $18 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for full-year 2025.”
Choice President and CEO Pat Pacious said that “by consolidating operations in Canada and expanding Choice Hotels Canada’s owner success system from the current eight hotel brands to our full portfolio of 22 brands, we are opening doors to remarkable opportunities for our franchisees and guests, while paving the way for accelerated growth across Canada.”