Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. First-quarter US hotel deals activity increased
The U.S. Hotel Investment Market Update from JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group reports that transaction volume in the first quarter grew 14.4% year over year to $5.6 billion, and $5.4 billion of that came from single-property deals.
There were five single-property deals priced at over $100 million, a 24% increase in volume compared to a year ago. Three deals had a price-per-key value of more than $1 million.
Within the buyer pool, private equity made up 34%, followed by high-net worth individuals (22%), owner/operators (16%), developers (10%), other (9%), foreign capital (5%) and real estate investment trusts (3%).
2. BWH Hotels warns guests of data breach
BWH Hotels is emailing its guests about a third-party data breach that included names, email addresses, telephone numbers and/or home addresses of "certain guests," the Register reports. The company identified the breach on April 22, but the data involved dates back to Oct. 14, 2025.
The cyberattack targeted one of BWH Hotels' "web applications that houses certain guest reservation data," according to the email sent to guests. The attack did not involve any payment or bank details.
3. Hotel brands, REITs raise full-year outlooks
During their respective first-quarter 2026 earnings calls, executives at publicly traded hotel brand companies and REITs spoke about better-than-expected performance in the early months of the year and forward-bookings pace leading them to raise their revenue outlooks for the year, reports CoStar News Hotels' Natalie Harms.
“For the full year, we now expect 2% to 3% global [revenue per available room] growth," said Jennifer Mason, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Marriott International. "This outlook incorporates our outperformance in the first quarter as well as higher than previously anticipated RevPAR growth in the U.S. and Canada, with the strength seen across chain scales in the first quarter continuing into April."
4. US inflation jumped to 3.8% in April
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that consumer prices rose 3.8% year over year in April, primarily due to higher gas prices stemming from the war with Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. When excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices increased by 2.8%, up from 2.6% the month prior.
In an attempt to lower gas prices, President Donald Trump has said he supports the proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax, which would require Congressional approval. The federal gas tax sits at 18 cents per gallon. AAA reports the average nationwide cost of one gallon of regular unleaded gas is about $4.50 currently, up from $3.14 a year ago.
5. Lufthansa to take majority stake of ITA Airways
German airline Deutsche Lufthansa plans to increase its ownership stake in Italy's ITA Airways from 41% to 90%, pending regulator approval from the European Union and U.S. Department of Justice, the Wall Street Journal reports. Italy's government has been moving to gradually end its ownership of the airline, selling Lufthansa its initial stake in June 2023 with the option of later acquiring the additional 49%.
Lufthansa intends to buy its new stake next month for €325 million ($381.7 million). The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance will hold on to the remaining 10%, but Lufthansa said it may buy that, too, in 2028.
In 2025, ITA Airlines made a profit of €209 million.