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

Choice Hotels International announced earlier this month that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the franchise business, operations and intellectual property of Radisson Hotel Group Americas for $675 million, reports Hotel News Now's Terence Baker.

Through this deal, Choice will add 624 hotels with more than 68,000 rooms to its portfolio in an effort to grow its presence in the upscale and upper-midscale segments across the West Coast and Midwest regions of the U.S.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

Nearly a year after Grupo Hotelero Prisma, a third-party operator in Mexico, was acquired by Aimbridge Hospitality in 2021, it has been able to progress its strategy of expanding into Mexico's upscale hotel and resort space, reports HNN's Bryan Wroten.

Prisma has opened its first two JW Marriott properties, one in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2021 and a second in Guadalajara in May, as well as a Westin-branded property in Monterrey. Prisma has contracts for five resorts it will begin managing in the next few months.

The White House announced the Biden administration dropped its COVID-19 testing requirement for inbound travelers beginning June 12, meaning those coming from abroad no longer need to show proof of a negative test before boarding a flight to the U.S., CNBC reports.

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow, who will be replaced by Geoff Freeman on Sept. 1, said in a statement that the announcement "marks another huge step forward for the recovery of inbound air travel and the return of international travel to the United States. The Biden administration is to be commended for this action, which will welcome back visitors from around the world and accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry.”

Despite geopolitical and economic concerns, the U.S. travel industry is approaching a more level playing field now in comparison to the start of the pandemic, reports HNN editorial staff at the recent 44th annual New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.

One indication of optimism comes from the returning volumes of business transient and group travel demand across the country. Additionally, STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, revised its 2022 forecast, calling for average daily rate to hit $145 this year.

• Real estate investment trust Pebblebrook Hotel Trust announced it has acquired the 257-room Gurney's Newport Resort & Marina in Newport, Rhode Island, for $174 million.
  
• Noble Investment Group announced it has purchased the Hilton Garden Inn Boise Downtown, marking more than $1 billion of investment activity within the past year. The sale price is undisclosed.
  
• Olive Real Estate Group, Hotel Equities, Colarelli Construction and Hotel Operations Services announced groundbreaking of the new Residence Inn by Marriott hotel near the Colorado Springs Airport Terminal. The hotel will be managed by Hotel Equities and is expected to open in 2023.
  
• Co-developers of the newly developed 234-room Conrad Nasvhille, Propst Development and Chartwell Hospitality, have sold the hotel to Northwood Investors for $119 million. The hotel is scheduled to open on June 29.
  

• CHMWarnick has promoted Maxine Taylor to executive vice president, Joe DeFrank also to executive vice president and Jenna Aragosa has joined the company as vice president.

• Sandpiper Hospitality has added two newly developed Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in Texas to its managed portfolio: the dual-branded La Quinta Inn/Hawthorn Suites in Pflugerville, Texas, and an AmericInn in San Angelo, Texas.
  
• IHG Hotels & Resorts broke ground on its new InterContinental Grenada Resort hotel on La Sagesse Beach. The resort is expected to open in 2025 with 150 guestrooms and 30 private suites.
  

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