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1. HIIVE Hotel Brand Launches in Vietnam
Vietnam-based hotel brand and management company Fusion Hotel Group will launch its eighth hospitality brand, HIIVE Hotels, with the August debut of a hotel in Vietnam's Binh Duong province. The HIIVE brand is designed to cater to "business travelers in industrial and logistic hubs," reports Turkish travel news outlet FTNnews.
The 172-room HIIVE Binh Duong will be located in the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park, close to Aeon Mall and Song Be Golf Resort.
Christopher Hur, president of Lodgis Hospitality Holdings, the parent company of Fusion, said about the location: "Vietnam has seen a steady increase in foreign investment and business travel, with Binh Duong emerging as a major manufacturing hub near Ho Chi Minh City."
The launch of the new brand will expand Fusion's presence in Vietnam, growing its portfolio of 10 hotels across its seven other brands: Fusion Origina, Fusion Resort, Fusion Suites, Fusion Retreat, Maia Resort, By Fusion and Glow Hotels & Resorts.
2. Why San Francisco Hotels Continue To Lag
In an interview with Travel Weekly, CoStar Group Senior Director of Hospitality Analytics Emmy Hise outlined some of the factors contributing to the startling lag of San Francisco's hotel market compared to other gateway cities.
Data from STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, shows that in June, San Francisco hotel revenue per available room was down 19.6% year over year, while the same metric was up 7.5% in New York and 6.5% in Chicago.
"San Francisco has been one of the least recovered markets out of the top 25 markets in the U.S., and that's been a trend throughout the entire recovery," Hise said.
Factors in that continued lag include the market's reliance on the also-slow-to-move tech industry and a lack of convention business, she said.
3. The Delicate Balancing Act on Hotel Valuations
The hotel transactions market in the U.S. is sluggish in large part because of a disconnect between buyers and sellers on valuation. Hotel owners who are willing to sell are pricing based on the strong performance of their properties, driven by high rates; but buyers are forced to be more conservative due to challenging debt markets, reports HNN's Dana Miller from the 2023 Americas Lodging Investment Summit Summer Update in Atlanta.
Stephany Chen, executive vice president, global hotel desk, at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, described hotel valuations as “a balancing game.”
4. Travel Rates Surge for India-Pakistan Cricket Match
A World Cup matchup between rivals India and Pakistan on the cricket pitch is driving rates for hotels and flights to Ahmedabad, the host city in India's western state of Gujarat, United Kingdom newspaper The Independent reports.
The Times of India reports that air fares have tripled in anticipation of the match, scheduled for Oct. 15.
"The heightened interest in the India-Pakistan match has led to a surge in accommodation and lodging rates as well," The Independent article states. "Some reports said the price per night at many hotels has gone up by five times the usual rate."
5. Marugal, Fairmont CEOs on Hotels' Responsibility To Protect Destinations
Pablo Carrington, the founder and CEO of Spanish hotel management firm Marugal, drew a hard line in the sand on sustainability in an interview with Forbes, saying: "It is our responsibility to help to protect the destinations in which we operate, not contribute to their destruction."
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts CEO Mark Willis agreed in an interview with Penta, the quarterly wealth management magazine published by Barron's Group.
"It’s an absolute key focus for our guests, and it’s becoming a normal expectation that you’re doing everything you can as a business in regards to the environment," Willis said. "We’re in a high-use industry, and part of Fairmont’s core is reducing single-use plastics and minimizing food waste, along with championing diversity and inclusion. Carbon emissions is key for us, and it’s also become the norm. I’ve spent years in the Middle East, and I’m seeing changes in what’s historically not an easy place for that to develop."
Marugal's Carrington said part of preserving a destination is supporting its community and businesses.
"If you chose the location first and then my hotel, I need to make sure the destination maintains its attractiveness so you keep wanting to come here. I need to contribute to cleaning the beaches of Formentera; I need to help to make sure the 100-year-old mom-and-pop stores near the URSO in Madrid continue to exist. The reason people are coming is because the destination has an identity, be it nature, be it culture, and I believe hoteliers need to get much more involved in that."