All along Orlando's main tourist corridor, hotels have exchanged their major brands for independent names in the economic turmoil of recent years. In many cases, it's a move made for financial reasons: Brand-name franchises charge a fee to use their flag; in exchange, the hotel benefits from guests funneled through the brand's marketing and loyalty programs. In other cases, it's the result of an ...

Over the past eight weeks, the Standard & Poor's downgrade of United States long-term debt rating and disappointing economic data have led to stock market volatility and uncertainty among hotel investors. In its research report, FocusOn: Market Volatility Impact on Hotel Transactions, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels provides an analysis of the hotel investment market that highlights the outlook for med...

TripAdvisor(R), already the world's largest travel site*, today announced that it is the first stand-alone travel brand to reach the milestone of 50 million unique monthly visitors, according to worldwide traffic data from comScore. Based on comScore data, TripAdvisor has experienced a 22 percent increase in traffic year-over-year from July 2010 to July 2011. TripAdvisor has also seen tremendous ...

Less than two miles from downtown D.C., Virginian Suites is steps away from the banks of the Potomac River. The 261-room, all-suite hotel is close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington National Cemetery, Washington Convention Center and government agencies and just a mile from the vibrant shops, restaurants and nightlife of historic Georgetown.

"Tourism is a major contributor in the Moroccan economy being the second contributor in national GDP and first contributor of foreign currency reserves. This has been mainly driven by an important investment dynamic in the tourism sector, averaging 45% of total investment agreements signed over the past decade" Yassir Zenagui, Minister of Tourism & Handicraft, Morocco.

The Swiss hotelier Kurt Ritter celebrates his 35th anniversary with Rezidor. In 1976, he joined the company as General Manager of the SAS Luleå Hotel in Sweden. Since 1989, he heads Rezidor as the President & CEO, and is most probably the longest serving Chief Executive Officer of the hospitality industry. Rezidor's Board of Directors recently extended Ritter's contract until 2015.

1. Impertinent Questions Still in Search of Pertinent Answers | I wrote the following questions in some of my earliest "Nobody Asked Me, But…" columns in the period from 1990-2000. So far, no pertinent answers have been forthcoming: When will hotel decorators provide a bedside light that will allow me to read in bed?...

During the preceding thirty or so years, the Hotel industry has been hooked on placing more and more tech into Hotel rooms believing the Guest wants it, needs it; it's become a way to stay competitive. In a few cases, some rooms have filled up with so much tech, that they have almost reached bursting point.

US-based investment firm Blackstone has agreed terms for the acquisition of the Mint Hotel portfolio from the Orr family for a little more than £600 million. According to The Times, the seven Mint hotels are to be run by Hilton Worldwide under a management contract. Blackstone is reported to have funded the purchase with around £230 million of equity, £300 million of senior debt from Deutsche Ban...

STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world's hotel industry, is pleased to announce its continued expansion in China with the launch of the new markets of Hainan and its southern resort city of Sanya. The data for both markets on this island in the South China Sea comes from 31 hotels. Hainan is China's largest special economic zone and the country's designated "International To...