Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. US hotels now must disclose resort fees
The Hotel Fees Transparency Act went into effect in the U.S. on Monday. The law requires hotels to disclose amounts charged to guests for so-called “junk fees,” fees that might be referred to as resort, destination or hospitality-service fees. According to CNBC, these fees would also include fees for premium internet services and gym access.
Cathy Lesser Mansfield, senior instructor in law at Case Western Reserve Law School, told CNBC that “the Junk Fees rule is rooted in a simple but powerful principle: Transparency. … When consumers can see the full price up front, whether they’re booking a hotel, buying concert tickets or paying a service fee, they’re in a better position to make informed decisions and avoid being misled.”
The Asian American Hotel Owners Association commended the legislation, with its chairman Kamalesh Patel agreeing that “transparency is key to building trust with our guests and to ensuring a level playing field across the hospitality industry.”
2. Visa confusion and fear of detention could see US inbound travel spend plummet
The latest report published by the World Travel & Tourism Council warns that confusion over visas, “reaction to immigration crackdowns, tariffs and politically charged statements” could cost the U.S. $12.5 billion in international travel spend across 2025, according to The New York Times. The amount constitutes a 22.5% decline in peak international travel spend in the U.S. in 2019.
Julia Simpson, president and chief executive of WTTC, said that in 2024, inbound travel spend was muted due to the strength of the U.S. dollar, meaning it was expensive for people to visit the U.S. But this year, “the near neighbors, Canada and Mexico, are not traveling. … There are also concerns over visas — whether [visitors have] got the right visa or might accidentally get arrested, which has made people quite fearful,” Simpson said.
The report, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, showed that the U.S. is the only country within the 184 countries tracked that “is forecast to see an international visitor decline in 2025.” The New York Times added the “U.S. still has the world’s largest tourism and travel market, which contributed $2.36 trillion to the nation’s economy last year. But 90% of tourism spending in 2024 came from domestic tourists.”
3. Azevedo tasked with moving Driftwood into higher segments
Veteran hotelier Alinio Azevedo has joined Driftwood Capital to oversee its new management, investment and development platform and expand its portfolio into lifestyle hotels and branded residences. In an interview with CoStar News Hotels’ Stephanie Ricca at the ALIS CALA conference, Azevedo said the move to operating in the upscale and luxury segments “makes sense for us, but also over the past 10 years, Driftwood Capital has assembled an existing investor base of 1,200 individuals and those people were asking to partner with us on higher-end deals.”
Driftwood, which operates 80 hotels in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, ranging from limited-service hotels to upper-upscale hotels, is “basically a private-equity shop, which raises capital then places it either via acquisition, development or more recently, lending,” Azevedo said.
4. King Street invests €400 million in hotel firm Room00 expansion
New York City-based investment fund King Street Capital Management will invest up to €400 million ($446 million) in Room00 Hostels & Hotels to bolster the Madrid-based firm’s portfolio in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Porto, Milan, Rome and Florence.
“The funding will primarily be used to acquire hotel properties in prime micro-locations. … Room00 will continue to rely on its existing growth model based on leases and hotel management agreements, with the capacity now to acquire properties directly. In Italy, Room00 has selected Kryalos SGR to set up an Italian property investment vehicle,” a news release from King Street stated.
The plan is for Room00 to grow its portfolio to 200 assets and 15,000 rooms in the next four years in Southern Europe and to 20 assets and 1,000 rooms in London, which the company is negotiating to enter with its first property by the end of 2025. Room00 currently has six assets in operations, all in Spain, save one in Portugal, and another three properties to open soon.
5. IHG and Ashaad sign 3-hotel deal for Saudi Arabia
IHG Hotels & Resorts and developer Ashaad Company have agreed a deal to open three hotels in Saudi Arabia, which will have a total of 1,743 rooms. The three hotels are the 717-room Voco Al Khobar Al Andalus; 700-room Hotel Indigo Jeddah Gate; and 326-room InterContinental Al Khobar Al Hamra, which will increase IHG’s presence in the country to 48 hotels. The British firm has another 49 hotels in development in the kingdom.
The three hotels will open between 2028 and 2030, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision2030 tourism and infrastructure projects.