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1. World Cup markets in Canada see hotel demand soar
Hotels in Toronto and Vancouver are filling up already for the 13 World Cup matches scheduled for the cities next year, CTV News reports. That combined with resulting rate increases have many concerned about the availability and affordability of accommodations in the markets.
In Vancouver specifically, local officials are pursuing alternative accommodations to try to keep up with the demand.
The University of British Columbia "is opening up college dorms," travel journalist Loren Christie said on CTV's Your Morning show. "Airbnb and VRBO are working with the City of Vancouver to open up more short-term rental. They are working with people who are not typically hosts, to become temporary hosts. If you want to get really creative, you can stay at campgrounds. You can stay in RV parks.”
2. Entertainment complex planned near Las Vegas A's ballpark
Bally's Corp. has plans for a mixed-use entertainment complex that will surround the new Las Vegas Athletics' ballpark, according to a news release. The complex will include hotel towers, a casino, retail outlets, dining and entertainment.
The company plans to build the above-street-level complex in phases and will have when finished 3,000 hotel rooms, a 2,500 seat theater and 500,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space. The main area of activity known as the podium will be accessible through escalators, stairs, elevators and walkways connecting it to Excalibur and MGM Grand.
3. 'Tell Me More' explores hotel recession fears
In the latest episode of "Tell Me More: A Hospitality Data Podcast," co-hosts Isaac Collazo of STR and Jan Freitag from CoStar Group explored the latest trends in average daily rate and revenue per available room data to see if signs are pointing to a hotel industry recession.
"Yes, the [U.S. economy] is bumpy up and down the food chain, and you have tariff impacts and the tax cut impact and immigration and all those conversations, but bottom line is continued growth of the American economy," Freitag said. "And then we're sitting here looking at our data and saying, 'Growth? What growth?'"
"It seems like we're a little bit disconnected from what the macro environment is, if we look at our little microcosm of hotels," Freitag said.
4. Tropical Storm Imelda's path shifts away from US
Tropical Storm Imelda is expected to strengthen into a hurricane, but the pull from the Category 5 Hurricane Humberto over the Atlantic Ocean will likely draw Imelda away from the Southeast U.S., CNN reports.
Imelda formed Sunday over the Bahamas and has passed over or near other islands in the Caribbean, bringing heavy rainfall. Though the projected path does not show Imelda making landfall over the continental U.S., coastal areas of eastern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas should expect rainfall and potential flooding.
5. Worries rise over frothy credit market
Investors are growing increasingly concerned that a hot U.S. credit market is hiding problems, and the recent bankruptcies in the auto segment of a subprime lender and a parts supplier may be a sign of more to come, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ongoing inflation and rising defaults in "private credit" aren't helping allay these fears.
“There’s been a very positive investment environment for a long time, with a large amount of money and a lot of optimism,” said Howard Marks, co-chairman of investment firm Oaktree Capital Management, which specializes in credit investing.
He said that can lead to high pricing and declining quality.
“The worst loans are made at the best of times,” he said.