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1. IHG's Staybridge brand to debut in Australia
IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a master development agreement with Australian property developer Aland to bring the extended-stay Staybridge Suites brand to the country, according to a news release. The agreement, which gives Aland exclusive property development rights for the brand in Australia, calls for a portfolio of 15 properties with a minimum of 2,000 rooms.
The two companies also signed the first two franchise agreements for Staybridge Suites in Australia: the 130-key Staybridge Suites Sydney Parramatta and the 112-key Staybridge Suites Sydney Leppington. Signature Hotel Management Group will operate the properties.
The Staybridge Suites brand has 355 open hotels with another 152 in the pipeline, as of June 26.
2. Marriott CEO said Middle East revenue declines have eased
While speaking at the Bank of America Gaming and Lodging Conference, Marriott International President and CEO Tony Capuano said the company's decline of hotel revenue in the Middle East eased in July, Reuters reports. Leisure and summer travel demand helped to mitigate some of the effects of the war in Iran.
Revenue per available room in the region dropped 12% year over year, beating Marriott's expectations and showing improvement over a 43% drop during the second quarter.
3. FTC proposes disclosure rule on personalized pricing
The FTC has proposed a rule to require companies that use personalized pricing, which is using a consumer's personal information to set a price that would be different from another consumer, to disclose the practice to consumers before they finish the purchase, CoStar News Hotels reports. It has a public comment period on the proposed rule running through Sept. 18.
Though hotel companies generally use dynamic pricing to set their rates, hoteliers should still be aware of the proposed rule and what it would mean for them should it go into effect, said Danielle Kays, partner at law firm Fisher Phillips.
“If you accurately and completely tell someone that a price is based on their purchase history, that would be enough to pass the disclosure,” she said. “Where someone else is being charged a different price than you at that same moment in time, based on your own data, that's where there needs to be that disclosure.”
4. UK considers tourist tax for hotels and short-term rentals
The United Kingdom's government is considering a new nightly tax on hotel and short-term rental stays in England, the Guardian reports. The plan would allow mayors to charge a tax on overnight stays and decide how that tax revenue is spent in their cities.
Angela Rayner, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, has been meeting with mayors to discuss the tax.
UKHospitality CEO Allen Simpson said the tax could put jobs at risk, and he told BBC Radio 4's Today show that holidays in the country are already more expensive than they would appear because of a higher value-added tax.
5. European Central Bank raises interest rate
The European Central Bank has raised its key deposit rate from 2.25% to 2.5%, its second increase of the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Inflation reached a three-year high of 3.3% in August after it cooled earlier in the summer.
The ECB's forecast in June called for inflation to peak later in the year and return to 2% by 2028.
"But renewed fighting in the Middle East could prolong the struggle to bring inflation back down. Global oil prices climbed back above $100 a barrel this week for the first time since July, and natural-gas prices in Europe have jumped to their highest level since 2023," the newspaper reports.