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1. Sotherly Hotels acquisition closes
Through a joint venture, KW Kingfisher, Kemmons Wilson Partners and Ascendant Capital Partners have closed on their acquisition of hotel real estate investment trust Sotherly Hotels, according to a news release. Schulte Hospitality Group will take over operations of its portfolio.
Sotherly Hotels formed as a REIT in August 2024. It owned 10 full-service mostly upscale and upper-upscale hotels with 2,786 rooms across seven states. It also had interest in two condominium hotels and their associated rental programs.
2. Unite Here releases immigration labor report
Labor union Unite Here has released a report, "Inhospitable: How U.S. Immigration Policy is Harming the Hospitality Sector," critical of the federal government's policies and practices regarding immigrants to the U.S. and the overall impact it has had on labor, tourism and hotel performance.
“Industry leaders and our elected officials need to act to protect the hospitality industry and the people who make it run,” said Gwen Mills, president of Unite Here, in a news release. “While immigrant families are on the front lines of the White House’s violent crackdowns and enforcement actions, our members — immigrant and U.S.-born alike — are struggling with their economic impact. If current immigration policies remain in place, conditions in the industry will worsen, threatening not only the workers who sustain it but industries, municipalities and communities that depend on tourism revenue.”
3. Hyatt CEO optimistic about rooms growth momentum
During his company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call, Hyatt Hotels Corp. President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said he expects Hyatt to continue to lead the industry in net rooms growth, reports CoStar News Hotels' Sean McCracken. Hyatt reported net rooms growth of 7.3% in 2025, not counting its acquisitions, an increase from 6.7% in 2024.
"We feel really good about the momentum that we've seen," he said. "We had a really significant signing quarter in the fourth quarter. We have tremendous momentum in the newly launched brands."
4. US inflation slowed to 2.4% in January
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that consumer prices grew year over year by 2.4%, coming in lower than expected, according to the Wall Street Journal. The annual rate of inflation in December was 2.7%.
"The latest annual number had some help, since a high inflation reading from January 2025 has now dropped out of the past 12 months of data," the newspaper reports. "Month over month from December, consumer prices in January rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% and core prices rose 0.3%."
5. What possible government shutdown means for travelers
The U.S. federal government faces another potential shutdown starting Saturday after the country saw its longest shutdown just months ago and a partial one two weeks ago, the New York Times reports. As a result, travelers may again face disruption of their trips, but this time air traffic controllers won't be affected because the Department of Transportation has funding.
Democrats have blocked money for the Department of Homeland Security and said they will vote against any spending bill that doesn't place new restrictions on immigration agents. The shutdown would affect the Transportation Security Administration, but a DHS contingency plan states that roughly 95% of the TSA's 64,000 employees must continue to work through a shutdown. The lack of pay will cause them financial stress, and it would also hinder the agency's efforts to boost hiring ahead of the FIFA World Cup matches later this year.