Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. Hilton Deal Adds NoMad Brand to Portfolio
Hilton acquired a majority stake in Sydell Group, adding the luxury lifestyle NoMad Hotels brand to Hilton's portfolio, HNN's Dana Miller reports. The deal includes the flagship London location but excludes NoMad Las Vegas, which will rebrand to a new flag.
Under the deal, all NoMad properties will remain independently owned. Hilton projects as many as 100 NoMad hotels developed globally over time, and it is in advanced stages of discussion with Sydell over about 10 hotels already.
“Adding NoMad to our growing brand portfolio will create new offerings for guests seeking unique luxury experiences in some of the world’s most desirable locations,” said Chris Silcock, Hilton's president of global brands and commercial services. “By pairing an already proven brand concept that’s ready for expansion with the power of Hilton’s commercial engine, we are accelerating our ability to drive growth in the luxury lifestyle segment.”
2. Earthquake Kills Nine People in Taiwan
The strongest earthquake in 25 years hit Taiwan during the country's morning commute time, killing nine people and causing significant damage to buildings and infrastructure, the Associated Press reports. Another 934 people have been reported injured. The quake and aftershocks caused 24 landslides and damaged 35 roads, bridges and tunnels.
Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency rated it as a 7.2-magnitude quake, but the U.S. Geological Survey measured it as 7.4, the AP reports. The earthquake's epicenter was off the coast of Taiwan's rural Hualien County along its eastern coast, 93 miles away from its capital, Taipei. The quake triggered a tsunami warning, but that was later lifted.
3. Cooling Eurozone Inflation Points to Rate Cut
The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone dropped for the third consecutive month in March, the Wall Street Journal reports. Continued cooling of inflation will encourage officials at the European Central Bank to cut its key interest rate in June.
“If these data reveal a sufficient degree of alignment between the path of underlying inflation and our projections, we will be able to move into the dialing-back phase of our policy cycle,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said.
4. IRS Collects in Employee Retention Credit Investigation
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is reporting progress in its efforts to recover money wrongly distributed through the pandemic-era Employee Retention Credit, the Associated Press reports. The ERC was intended to help companies keep employees on their payrolls during the pandemic, but the program was rife with fraud.
So far, the IRS has collected $225 million through a voluntary disclosure program that ended March 22, the news agency reports. It let small business owners who believed they received the ERC in error to give back the money and keep 20%. That amount represents more than 500 taxpayers, and there are another 800 submissions being processed.
There's another program that allows small businesses to withdraw unprocessed claims, through which 1,800 businesses have withdrawn $251 million in claims. Audits have assessed $572 million in improper claims from more than 12,000 businesses.
IRS Criminal Investigation is reviewing an additional $3 billion in claims.
5. Extended-Stay Hotels Have Mixed Results in February
U.S. extended-stay hotels reported in February the first monthly decline in average daily rates since rates started to rise in April 2021, according to the latest monthly report from the Highland Group. Revenue per available room for the segment dropped for the third consecutive month.
However, on a more positive note, extended-stay hotels had their strongest monthly gain in a year for demand, and occupancy grew after 10 months of decline.
“Strong demand growth and an increase in occupancy are good signs in this year’s difficult start for extended-stay hotels,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group, in a news release.