Raffles Hotels & Resorts has made its long-anticipated debut in London, opening the doors to Raffles London at The OWO (Old War Office). Comprising a hotel and residences, spa and ballroom, alongside an array of restaurants and bars, The OWO heralds a new chapter for Whitehall.
As Lui Chun boarded his Heathrow-bound plane in Hong Kong this month his fellow business-class passengers probably didn’t pay much attention to the unassuming gent in casual black suit and Nike trainers. How were they to know that the opening of London’s first billion-pound hotel rested on his say-so?
Adrian Forte, owner of The Duck, a bar and restaurant in Bournemouth, describes the current circumstances in which his venue has to operate as unprecedented.
An idyllic summer vacation turned into a nightmare after thousands of people were evacuated from Greek islands beset by wildfires – the latest reminder that Europe’s tourism industry needs to confront the realities of climate change and adapt fast.
The Greek word Philoxenia, literally translated as a “friend to a stranger,” is widely perceived to be synonymous to hospitality.
Uber customers in the United Kingdom will soon be able to book flights directly through the app thanks to the latest travel feature the company has added beyond rides.
It’s the travel trend that never quite took off. Ever since American trader Ben Hockett made millions during the 2008 global financial crisis by trading online from an Exmouth pub, travel marketers have tried to sell the concept of mixing holidays with work.
Amid high inflation and surging energy costs, United Kingdom government officials have asked business owners to not pass on higher costs to consumers. But members of the U.K. hospitality industry say that's asking too much of hotel owners and operators trying to run profitable businesses.
It has been a torrid few years for hospitality, battling Brexit-driven staff shortages, the pandemic, and now spiraling business costs.
The devastating 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that hit southeastern Turkey near Syria on Feb. 6 have killed more than 36,000 people, and the death toll continues to rise. The earthquakes hit predominantly residential, non-tourist areas of Turkey, but came at a time when the country's hotel industry appeared to be fully recovered from the global pandemic.
Travel firms will need to take the lead on sustainability as consumers are not willing to pay extra for more environmentally friendly holidays, according to sustainability experts.
Louis Vuitton will not be put in a box—or a monogrammed trunk, for that matter. Over the past 160 years, the French label has expanded beyond luggage and leather goods to fashion and accessories to pop-up restaurants and interactive exhibitions. Now, it’s opening a hotel. Chairman and CEO Michael Burke has told Women’s Wear Daily that the brand’s headquarters in Paris, France, will soon be turned into a giant complex featuring the world’s first Louis Vuitton hotel and the largest-ever LV boutique.
Leaders of major hotel brands speaking at the Annual Hotel Conference said that as the fundamentals of the hotel industry are normalizing, hotel owners and operators are applying lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to strategies to drive demand to their properties and gain market share for the brands.
Accor has announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with the Valesco Group to sell its Paris headquarters, the Sequana Tower, for 465 million euros ($461.2 million).
One of Paris’s most expensive hotel suites just got even pricier. A night in the top suite at the Bristol, one of the city’s famed palace hotels, has risen by €5,000 ($4,990) as American tourists, traveling with their strong dollars, have returned en masse to the French capital.
Energy cost increases are causing pain in the United Kingdom hotel industry, and with domestic residents who face less discretionary income because of inflation-linked, higher gas and electricity prices.
The Bank of England has increased interest rates for the sixth time in a row, this time to 1.75%.
Spain’s economy is more dependent on tourism income than most other European countries. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish tourism sector was worth €155 billion, or 14.3 percent of national GDP, and accounted for nearly 15 percent of total jobs in the country.1 And in some communities, tourism contributes to over 20 percent of all economic activity.
People jest these days that if you want to take your significant other out on an expensive date, take them to a gasoline station. But why stop on a date when you can rent a suite there instead?
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced he will resign after several scandals and numerous ministerial resignations left him without the authority needed to deliver his government’s policies.