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1. Hyatt Acquires Me and All Hotels Brand
Hyatt Hotels Corp. bought the Me and All Hotels brand from German-based Lindner Hotels AG, reports HNN's Sean McCracken. The company sees this deal as a way to grow in new European markets.
Hyatt and Lindner had partnered in 2022 to increase Hyatt's presence in Germany and Europe overall. The companies also integrated most of Lindner Hotels & Resorts into Hyatt's loyalty program.
Me and All Hotels is currently a nested brand in the JdV by Hyatt brand, but it will become a stand-alone brand in Hyatt's lifestyle hotels portfolio.
For more news on Hyatt, see Sean McCracken's video interview with Paul Daly, Hyatt's global head of franchise and owner relations, at the 2024 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.
2. Midweek Juneteenth Holiday Drops US Occupancy
This was the first year the U.S. federal holiday Juneteenth fell in the middle of the week, and it disrupted hotel performance due to its effect on business and group travel, write STR's Chris Klauda and William Anns. U.S. hotel revenue per available room fell 2.4% year over year for the week ending June 22, the result of occupancy levels dipping by 1.8 percentage points.
Klauda and Anns expect the next week's performance should show improvement across the board and strong performance among the top 25 markets on weekdays and improved group demand.
With the Fourth of July falling on a Thursday this year, they expect that week will see drop in U.S. hotel average daily rate and a more dramatic decrease in occupancy. U.S. hotel occupancy should then improve over the following weeks.
3. American Travelers Show Further Interest in International Trips
The latest Portrait of American Travelers study by MMGY's Travel Intelligence found that eight out of 10 active leisure travelers want to travel abroad within the next two years, according to a news release. Overall, interest in travel has increased across nearly all household income levels.
The study found the number of travelers who took a road trip in the last 12 months was 64%, nearly double the 33% who reported doing so in 2015. More than a third reported interest in a cannabis-related activity while on vacation, half of whom considering visiting a cannabis shop.
Among the domestic destinations, Hawaii, Florida, Colorado and California remain the most popular locations for leisure travelers.
4. US Economy Grew at 1.4% in First Quarter
The U.S. Department of Commerce revised its finding on economic growth during the first quarter of 2024, stating gross domestic product grew at a 1.4% annual pace, the Associated Press reports. Though the revision was a slight upgrade from the 1.3% estimate, it was still the slowest quarterly growth seen since spring 2022.
Consumer spending grew by 1.5%, down from the estimated 2%, a possible effect of higher interest rates.
The latest report, however, is not necessarily an indication of the economy's declining health, the AP reports. The main reasons behind the 1.4% growth were a surge in imports and a drop in business inventories, which can occasionally happen each quarter.
5. Cellphone Outage Affects US Travelers in Europe
Many U.S. travelers in Europe lost cellular service for a 24-hour period on June 26, the New York Times reports. The outage affected users of the AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon networks.
Though it's not exactly clear what caused the outage that spanned the United Kingdom to Turkey, the cellular services companies said they were working with their third-party partners to come up with a solution, the newspaper reports.
Floridian George Lagos was visiting the Greek island of Crete with his family when they noticed the loss of cellphone service.
“You know it’s an inconvenience, but it wasn’t a disaster,” Lagos said. “I didn’t miss a flight. I didn’t have a taxicab looking for me or anything.”