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1. Public prosecutor announces criminal investigation into Swiss resort fire
The public prosecutor for the Swiss canton of Valais has announced it is instigating a criminal investigation into the deadly fire on Dec. 31 at a hotel-resort bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, according to Swissinfo.ch. At press time, 40 people have been announced dead in the New Year’s Eve blaze at the Le Constellation bar. The list of injured, many with serious burns, is currently at 119, the news site added.
Peer news site Deutsche Welle reports Valais officials said in a press conference announcing the move that “two … owners of the Crans-Montana ski resort bar … are accused of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent causing of a conflagration.”
Beatrice Pilloud, chief prosecutor of Valais, said “safety standards were the focus of the investigation.”
2. London’s FTSE 100 surpasses 10,000-points mark for first time
The London Stock Exchange's Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 index started trading above the 10,000-point mark for the first time on Jan. 5, according to the BBC. It said on closing on Jan. 2, the index rose to 10,046 points, although it finished the day lower than that hurdle. Jan. 3, this year a non-trading Saturday, marked the index’s 42nd anniversary.
The index is 21% higher in value in year-over-year terms. At press time, the index was at 9,964, a slight rise from the final Jan. 2 closing price of 9,951. The index in 1984 started at a base level of 1,000 points.
The BBC quoted Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, as saying, “[Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves] has been banging the drum about the merits of investing over parking cash in the bank. … The FTSE 100’s achievements just go to show what’s possible when buying U.K. shares.”
3. Hotel revenue experts set strategies for 2026, prepare to shift them when needed
Reacting to a year in which hotel and travel demand did not play out exactly as expected, revenue managers in 2026 are pondering new strategies, which include the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 being hosted in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. and the potential in artificial intelligence to bring meaningful and beneficial changes to the industry overall and to revenue and commercial strategy specifically, CoStar News Hotels’ Bryan Wroten reports.
Phill Burgess, senior vice president of sales and revenue at Athena Hospitality Group, said AI is the “new frontier. We have to discover the rules of the terrain to just survive and thrive, so it’s like the wild, wild west of modern revenue management.”
Harry Carr, senior vice president of revenue management at Pivot Hotels & Resorts, said the midpoint of the year is critical for hotels in North America, stating that the December 2025 draw for World Cup matches and locations “clarified our strategy that we need to build more base. It’s not going to be the game days. It’s going to be who can fill their hotel for the most days between June 15 and July 15.”
4. Donna Rae Garff Marriott, wife of Bill Marriott, dead at 90
Donna Rae Garff Marriott, the wife of Marriott International’s Bill Marriott, its chairman emeritus, has died. She was 90 years of age when she “passed away peacefully” on Dec. 30, according to a statement from the world’s largest hotel company.
She married Bill Marriott in 1955, and the couple recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
5. Millennium, Indian Hotels partner loyalty programs
Singapore-based Millennium Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of City Developments Ltd., and Mumbai-based Indian Hotels Co. Ltd., the parents of Taj Hotels & Resorts, announced a partnership of their loyalty programs — the former’s MyMillennium and the latter’s Taj InnerCircle of NeuPass.
Millennium is celebrating its 30th year of existence in March 2026. Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and CEO at IHCL, said the deal extends the firm’s “focus … on shaping the future of travel through strategic alliances," and Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman at Millennium, added the partnership “strengthens our presence in India and key global markets.”