TODAY: AccorHotels completes acquisition of Mövenpick, China Briefing: Sino-US travel hit by trade war, Tencent to buy $400m stake in Meituan IPO and To Aspiring Hoteliers: Don’t Be Seduced by the Glamour, Let Integrity Guide You.

AccorHotels completes acquisition of Mövenpick
Wednesday, 5th September 2018

Comprised of 84 properties with over 20,000 rooms and 42 signed pipeline hotels to be opened before December 2021, the Mövenpick network consolidates AccorHotels’ footprint in Europe and Asia while accelerating growth in Africa and the Middle East, where Mövenpick enjoys significant brand awareness >>

China Briefing: Sino-US travel hit by trade war, Tencent to buy $400m stake in Meituan IPO, and more
5 Sep 2018 : Chinese tourists to Russia increased by 150% in January-July 2018, weekly travel bookings from China to the US dropped, Meituan is to go public in Hong Kong on September 20, and Tencent plans to buy $400 million worth of shares in the IPO >>

Anantara Hotels launches private jet experience
5 Sep 2018 : Anantara launches the Anantara Private Jet Experience; an incredible voyage of discovery around the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and guests can now seamlessly combine luxurious stays at Anantara properties with the ease and convenience of private jet transportation >>

News from around the APAC region
5 Sep 2018 : Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region: Malaysia’s first W Hotel opens in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore’s KOP in Chinese JV, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam attracts massive tourism & related investments and more >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

To Aspiring Hoteliers: Don’t Be Seduced by the Glamour, Let Integrity Guide You
Wednesday, 5th September 2018

Speaking at the third Tern Travel Careers, an event focused on inspiring talent to enter the industry, Jenny Chua, an industry pioneer who carved her career with brands such as Raffles Hotel, Westin and Ascott, as well as the Singapore Tourism Board, reminded the audience of university students, graduates and young executives to never forget their roots.

She said that while the hospitality industry can often be quite glamorous, 'it’s rather an artificial world, not a continuation of a day-to-day world. You must be able to, at the end of the day, come back home [to your real life] and be able to say ‘this is my life, I’m happy with it’.' >>

How America’s Motels Became Hipster Havens
In the heart of Palm Springs, a once nondescript Howard Johnson motel with an on-site Denny’s restaurant is now the Ace Hotel & Swim Club, replete with outdoor fireplaces, live music by the pool, a vintage photo booth and Middle East-meets-California fusion dining >>

Yes, SEO Still Matters
In the past couple of months, I have had the opportunity to conduct various website and social media audits, mainly for hotels, restaurants and attractions in the travel and hospitality sphere. While there are certainly many complexities that come into play, there are often some pretty simple, low hanging fruits that brands can zoom in, in order to have a much more performing website and overall online presence >>

Escaping the Sidelines: Tours & Activities Get Going
We shed light on the massive in-destination activities opportunity; reveal key challenges the segment faces; outline how technology is fundamentally reshaping the tours and activities distribution landscape; and explain why, though online bookings clearly represent the future for tours and activities, not all online booking platforms are created equal >>