Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of EMEA Hospitality to Retire
Jon Hubbard retires after 40 years in hospitality and 7 years building Cushman & Wakefield's EMEA platform; Fred Le Fichoux, with 20+ years at the firm, steps up as successor.
News
Nicolas Peluffo of Awasi on Ultra-Luxury Lodge Travel, One Villa One Guide One Vehicle, and the Last Untouched Frontier in Luxury Travel
Awasi CEO Nicolas Peluffo outlines the brand's one-villa-one-guide-one-vehicle philosophy across five South American lodges, arguing the continent remains the most underdeveloped frontier in luxury travel.
196+ forum Munich: Jury selected ten nominated hotels for “Hotel Property Award 2026”
Ten hotels from five European countries are nominated for the Hotel Property Award 2026, to be presented at the 196+ forum in Munich on 7 October at Hotel Bayerischer Hof.
UAE Minister of Economy and tourism set to officially open FHS World 2026 as organisers unveil investment-led agenda
FHS World 2026 takes place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai from 29 Sept to 1 Oct, featuring 100+ speakers including the UAE Minister of Economy and a focus on investment, innovation, and deal-making.
The data fragmentation tax: What does disconnected data really cost hotel commercial teams?
Lighthouse argues disconnected hotel tech stacks cost commercial teams hours weekly and measurable revenue, citing a 2.7% median RevPAR uplift across 7,352 hotels using unified data tools.
By Jonathan Gough, Content Team Lead, Lighthouse
HOSTA 2026 report: Dutch hotel industry suffers from VAT increase
The HOSTA 2026 report by Horwath HTL forecasts a 2.5% drop in Dutch hotel demand and rising consumer prices as VAT on accommodation jumps from 9% to 21%.
Culture eats AI for breakfast: What your organization must believe before the rollout begins
A hospitality AI veteran argues that culture, not technology, determines AI success, offering five belief prerequisites hotels must audit before any platform rollout.
By Vassilis Syropoulos, Founder & CEO, Juyo
Hotel Distribution Is Splitting into Two Separate Ecosystems, Where AI Is Really Landing for Hotel Owners, Define the Decision Envelope Before AI Flies the Plane
Tuesday opened the week with Mirai's argument that hotel distribution is fracturing into a traditional web ecosystem and a parallel AI agent ecosystem requiring entirely different optimization strategies, a World Panel viewpoint on where AI spend, savings, and control are actually landing for hotel owners, and Pertlink's framework for defining AI decision envelopes before granting operational autonomy, drawn from Cathay Pacific's contrail-avoidance trial. Mews's 13% revenue lift from autopilot pricing, Away.ai's AI travel agent launch, and eight property announcements from Manchester to Dubai rounded out the session.
Why Your Digital Reputation Is Your Best New Sales Tool
A hospitality sales strategist argues that digital reputation now functions as a pre-sales tool, with buyers forming opinions via LinkedIn, podcasts, and AI long before any direct outreach occurs.
By Susan Tucker, Partner & COO, The Lure Agency, Lure Agency
One Internet. Two distribution ecosystems
Mirai argues hotel distribution is splitting into two ecosystems: the traditional web and an emerging AI agent ecosystem requiring structured knowledge, MCP endpoints, and new optimization strategies beyond SEO.
By Pablo Delgado, Managing Partner & CEO America, Mirai
How autopilot AI pricing lifts revenue per square meter by 13%
Mews analyzed 6,000+ hotels using causal inference and found that enabling its RMS Autopilot feature for 9+ months drove a 13% lift in revenue per square meter over 18 months.
PATA and Content With Purpose Launch New Digital Series Championing Tourism with Purpose Across Pacific Asia
PATA and Content With Purpose have launched a free documentary series exploring sustainable, community-centered tourism across Asia Pacific, featuring destinations in Hawaii, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, and the Marianas.
Will Airbnb be another OTA? Its Hotel Team leaders weigh in
Airbnb's hotel team leaders Andrea D'Amico and Lou Zameryka, both ex-Booking.com, discuss how Airbnb is expanding into hotels and what that means for the distribution landscape.
Sloan Dean, CEO Emeritus, Not Done with Sloan Dean
What is the AI Alliance?
Ira Vouk of AIHA and Cendyn's Luke Markesky discuss responsible AI adoption in hospitality, covering standards, data privacy, risk management, and industry accountability.
Ryan Haynes, Director/Lead Consultant, Hoteliers' Voice Podcast/ Haynes MarComs Ltd
AI Takes Flight
Using Cathay Pacific's Google AI contrail-avoidance trial as a framework, this piece argues hotels must define decision envelopes, run shadow-mode pilots, and track AI override rates before granting operational autonomy.
By Terence Ronson, Founder & Managing Director, Pertlink Limited
HVS Europe Hotel Transactions Bulletin - Week Ending 04 September 2026
HVS Europe's weekly bulletin covers six hotel transactions across Italy, Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, France, and Germany, with deal values ranging from €7M to over €200M.
A Visa Change Hits the Floor Before It Hits the Report, Seven Accor Hotels Change Hands in the UK, Hotels Put AI Where the Value Isn't
Monday opened with a regulatory change most properties have not audited for. DHS has moved J-1 exchange visitors from Duration of Status to fixed admission dates, which means a delayed arrival no longer pushes the end date back, and a trainee who joins six weeks late enters a programme that has already moved past them. Headcount stays correct and compliance stays clean while the gap shows up on the floor. Starboard Hotels and LaSalle bought seven Accor-branded hotels with 913 bedrooms from Ares and EQ Group, taking Starboard past 3,000 rooms, and Bain Capital sold the Lake Como EDITION six months after it opened. Google Cloud research from 2,400 executives found returns come from embedding AI in core value-creating processes, which in hotels is not the booking page.
Starboard/LaSalle JV acquires seven Accor hotels in key markets across the UK from Ares and EQ Group
Starboard Hotels and LaSalle Investment Management acquired seven Accor-branded hotels across the UK, growing Starboard's portfolio to 28 properties and over 3,000 rooms.
The Neuroscience of Natural Materials: Why Wood, Stone and Patina Outperform Synthetic Finishes in Guest Perception
Opinion piece argues natural materials like wood, stone and aged metals shape guest perception more effectively than synthetic finishes by triggering positive neurological and emotional responses.
By Peter Chambers, Associate Editor, Renovated
HVS Asia Pacific Hospitality Newsletter - Week Ending 4 September 2026
Five deals across Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan totaling hundreds of millions in transaction value, covering acquisitions, a mixed-use luxury development, and a value-add repositioning play.