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1. Sydney Accor hotels acquired for $277 million
The acquisition of two Accor-branded hotels in Sydney for a combined 390 million Australian dollars ($277 million) has closed, the largest deal by transaction pricing in Australia’s largest city in four years, according to Business News Australia. The buyer is a consortium that includes Wentworth Capital, Mulpha Australia and Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai & Co., and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is the seller.
Initial news of the deal for the 525-room Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour and the 256-room Ibis Sydney Darling Harbour broke in March. The price tag breaks down to 499,360 Australian dollars per room on a 6% yield.
The news outlet reports the original guidance on the sale from ADIA was for 500 million Australian dollars, meaning the final sale price was a 28% discount.
2. Inflation, increased business demand mean hotel rates will rise in 2027
Persistent inflation and the continuing resiliency of business and corporate demand will see hotel average daily rates increase in 2027, according to American Express Global Business Travel's Hotel Monitor 2027.
"Given ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and commodity price volatility, this year’s report presents rate forecasts as a range rather than a single figure for the first time," the report reads.
Among the markets it highlights, the Hotel Monitor 2027 forecasts rate increases of 1.6% to 2.5% for New York, 3.6% to 5.4% for London, 3.1% to 4.8% for Paris, 1% to 2% for Dubai and 1.9% to 3% for Beijing.
3. OECD predicts 2027 global economy to grow 3%
A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development has predicted the world economy will grow by 3% in 2027, a slightly downward revision from its previous forecast of 3.1%.
"Stronger price pressures, weaker real income growth and higher interest rates will moderate near-term growth momentum in many economies, but robust AI-related activity and an assumed easing of energy prices in line with futures markets next year will help activity strengthen," the report states.
The OECD forecasts inflation across the G20 counties will be 3.6% in 2027, down from the average 4.1% it predicts for full-year 2026. It also expects weather-related supply shocks, specifically pointing to El Niño likelihood to increase food prices.
4. IMF chief pleads for developed nations to cut borrowing
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has warned the world's developed nations, including the U.S. and U.K., must reduce borrowing and cut their debt levels, saying that while global economic shocks had been "pushing debt levels up like a staircase not to heaven,” governments have taken “no action to contain that service cost,” the BBC reports.
The U.K. recently announced its borrowing in August had totaled £18.3 billion ($24.3 billion), while the U.S. this year has seen its debt grow to a record $40 trillion-plus.
Currently attending the United Nations General Assembly, Georgieva said the things governments must do are “bring debt levels down, put fiscal consolidation as a priority and make sure that the central banks deliver on their mandate for price stability.”
5. Spain’s H10 Hotels names new chair
Barcelona-based H10 Hotels has announced its new chair of the board of directors as Jordi Espelt, the son of the firm’s founder, Josep Espelt. Jordi Espelt, who has worked at the eponymously named brand for three decades, will continue in his role as CEO, according to an English translation of Spanish travel and tourism news site Hosteltur.
H10 Hotels currently operates 70 hotels in nine countries: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, the U.K., France, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Last December, the firm opened a 599-suite, adults-only resort, the Ocean Allure Costa Mujeres, on the island of Isla Mujeres just off the coast from Cancún, Mexico.