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1. Japan’s Ichigo Hotel REIT posts 11% fall in net income
One of Japan’s largest hotel-centric real estate investment trusts, Ichigo Hotel REIT, said a combination of closures to its hotels due to renovations and a continuing lack of Chinese inbound guests have resulted in its half-year net income falling 11% to 1.231 billion Japanese yen ($784 million). The company said positives in the period including good domestic demand and higher business-travel and group bookings.
“At the hotels owned by Ichigo … domestic demand from leisure travel, live concerts, sports events and academic conferences remained firm, with further support from stable business demand. However, operating results were affected by a decline in tourists from China as well as a post-World Expo 2025 drop-off in demand,” the company said in its earnings release.
CoStar states the REIT has 39 hotels and 6,220 rooms.
2. Inside Sloan Dean's vision for an AI-powered hotel operating company
Sloan Dean, the former CEO of Remington Hospitality, has launched a white-label hotel management company, AIHG, which he says is the “first AI-native hotel operating company.” The new company plans to start operating its first properties by the end of 2026. Dean told CoStar News Hotels’ Sean McCracken that the model will use proprietary technology, heavily leaning on artificial intelligence, to significantly cut down both corporate and on-property staffing.
The goal, Dean said, “ultimately is to boost profitability. … [The] company could staff just half to a quarter as many human corporate employees as a traditional hotel operating company.” AIHG has spent the past few months piloting its technology at three hotels in California hotels operated by different companies — 255-room The Ameswell Hotel in Mountain View; the 164-room Marina del Rey Hotel in Marina del Rey, and the 81-room Hotel Hermosa in Hermosa Beach.
3. Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer reports €862m revenue
Monaco hotel firm Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer reported its revenue for its 2025-2026 financial year reached €861.6 million ($989 million), up 12.2% year over year. That performance was driven by the company’s hotel interests, which posted revenue of €443.1 million, an 11% increase from the same period of the previous year. The company also has interests in casinos.
“Revenue for the 2026 summer season, covering July and August, was up 8% compared with the same period of the previous financial year. … In the hotel segment, growth was driven mainly by accommodation revenue, notably as a result of an increase in average rates,” the company said in its earnings release.
4. Latvia’s AirBaltic files for bankruptcy
Latvian national airline AirBaltic has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., with FlightRadar24 saying the decision came about due to “rising fuel costs, debt and the loss of traffic following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” The airline, which continues to operate, already announced it planned to cut its fleet by a third.
In August, the Latvian government approved bailout measures that would create a joint airline with neighboring Lithuania and possibly Estonia. The Latvian government recently loaned €30 million to the airline, which has Germany’s Lufthansa as a minority partner. FlightRadar24 added AirBaltic “has secured a commitment for €350 million in financing from a who’s who of international credit institutions. This lifeline, however, comes at a significant cost, with the interest rate reportedly hovering around 12%.”
5. Study shows hotel employees react better to robots that look and sound human
A partnership study by Macau Business and the Macao University of Tourism on robots working in hospitality entities has found employees are more comfortable with certain kinds of bots. The report states, “drawing on similarity-attraction theory and congruity theory, the findings suggest that robot designs that align with employees’ social and cultural expectations can encourage more positive human–robot interactions and support employees’ favorable perceptions of service robots in workplace settings.” In other words, if robots replicate human employees in appearance and accent, employees have more favorable “perceptions and attitudes towards working with robots in hospitality workplaces.”
Two studies were conducted, one in China, the other in the United Kingdom. The report added research has been done on guest perceptions to robots, but little study has been done on employees’ perceptions. One key finding, the study participants said, is that “robot design should consider not only technical functions but also social and cultural factors that influence workplace relationships.”