Read the latest hotel industry news from around the Americas region.

During the Hotel Opportunities Latin America conference, hoteliers said there's still great potential for hotel industry growth across certain segments and markets, including Mexico, Hotel News Now reports.

"Everybody thinks of Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Mexico City; but there's so many other places [that] are frankly spectacular like Loreto, which is north Los Cabos [and] totally untapped," said John McCarthy, executive chairman and partner at Leisure Partners and co-chairman of HOLA, Mexico.

Branded residences are also presenting opportunities for hoteliers.

"We've always had a strong residential component at Marriott prior to the pandemic, but every deal that comes to the table is coming with a new hotel investor who's done residential and they're doing a hotel now with the residential. That branded hotel experience is super important to drive that real estate value for the residential side," said Brian King, president for the Caribbean and Latin America at Marriott International.

Hilton has officially launched its apartment-style, extended-stay brand under the working title "Project H3" that is targeting travelers in the workforce travel market, reports HNN's Bryan Wroten.

The new brand, sitting in the lower-midscale segment, will feature four distinct areas for guests to rest, work, cook and refresh.

“Many long-stay guests never stopped traveling during the pandemic, especially within the lower-midscale, extended-stay segment, and we designed a product in direct response to this growing need,” Matt Schuyler, chief brand officer at Hilton, said in a news release. “Project H3 will disrupt the category and allow Hilton to better provide reliable and friendly service for those who are in it for the long stay.”

Jolyon Bulley will be the new Americas CEO of IHG Hotels & Resorts beginning July 1. He will succeed Elie Maalouf, who will become group CEO after Keith Barr departs.

Bulley joined IHG in 2001 and has been IHG's CEO for the Greater China region since 2018.

“Jolyon has made an enormous contribution to the success of IHG over his more than two decades in the business, including holding senior roles in our two biggest markets. His appointment as Americas CEO demonstrates IHG’s commitment to invest in our leaders’ development potential, our robust succession planning and a continuation of our existing growth strategy for the Americas region," Barr said in a news release.

Demand for hotels this summer is trending up compared to 2022, reports Hotel News Now's Trevor Simpson. However, some typical destination markets such as Miami and Daytona Beach are showing signs of demand declines as international travel has ramped up.

Michele Mainelli, senior vice president of revenue management at Island Hospitality Management, said her team is planning for a decrease in room demand at its Florida hotels this summer.

“I do think we expected it to scale back because it has been so strong the last three years. Now that international travel has ramped up, I think we expected it,” she said. “We didn’t budget as aggressively for the Florida properties as we had in previous years.”

• La Fonda on the Plaza hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has appointed Fermin Moran as its new general manager.
  

• Pacifica Hotels has hired Delano Fields as lead sales manager at Hotel Hermosa; Grace Petralia has been hired as director of sales at La Jolla Cove Hotel; Emanuel Trujillo has been hired as assistant general manager at Seacliff Inn; Albert Gutierrez has been promoted to general manager at Residence Inn Anaheim Hills Yorba Linda; and Ki Min has been hired as hotel manager at the Belamar Hotel.

• Hunter Hotel Advisors arranged the sale of four Hilton-branded hotels throughout Huntsville and Auburn/Opelika, Alabama. The hotels include the Home2 Suites Madison Huntsville Airport, Hilton Garden Inn Madison, Home2 Suites Decatur Ingalls Harbor and Home2 Suites Opelika Auburn.
• Peachtree Group has appointed Melissa Ross Smith as chief operating officer.
  
• Sandals Resorts International debuted the new 260-room Sandals Dunn's River in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The hotel underwent a top-to-bottom restoration.
• Hilton signed a management agreement for the first all-inclusive Curio Collection by Hilton in the Dominican Republic. The new-build resort, called Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton, is expected to open in 2024, will feature 502 rooms. It is owned by Zemi Hotels & Resorts.

Read more news on Hotel News Now.