Hyatt rolls out room keys in Apple Wallet, Hilton expands in 2022, Dubai profit surpasses 2019 and more...

Hyatt rolls out room keys in Apple Wallet, Hilton expands in 2022
Friday, 10th December 2021

As the first hotel brand to offer room keys in Apple Wallet, World of Hyatt guests at participating locations can now seamlessly and securely tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock guestrooms and key card-protected common areas like gyms, pools, and elevators – no need to open an app or handle a traditional plastic room key >>

Dubai hotels surpassed 2019 profit level in October
10 Dec 2021 : Estimated Dubai gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) for October 2021 came in at 159% of the 2019 comparable, according to STR‘s latest monthly P&L data release >>

Hilton's Hot List: Global properties to debut in 2022
10 Dec 2021 : Waldorf Astoria and Conrad boast eight marquee openings next year; LXR expands development pipeline with new Middle East signings >>

IHG opens new Holiday Inn hotel in Queenstown
10 Dec 2021 : Holiday Inn has welcomed a new flagship property to New Zealand >>

Airbnb introduces 50+ upgrades and innovations
10 Dec 2021 : AirCover, Translation Engine, and Accessibility Review are just a few of the new upgrades designed to improve the experience for guests and Hosts as the world undergoes a travel revolution >>

Follow WHO advice: Rescind travel bans
9 Dec 2021 : The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for governments to follow World Health Organization (WHO) advice and immediately rescind travel bans that were introduced in response to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Why Hotels Need To Stop Obsessing About 2019
Friday, 10th December 2021

In 2020, a lot of hotels were closed, those that were open were running on low occupancies, with low staffing levels and with large chunks of inventory out of commission.

Also, many hotels found themselves catering to different clientele: homeless people, healthcare workers, essential workers, etc. Market segmentation is very skewed.

And therefore 2019 became important as a benchmark because 2020 data was not reliable. Now we are planning for 2022 and we must accept that 2022 is three years removed from 2019. That is not a fair comparison >>

Ready to be a Giddy GOAT? Yes, It’s Time to Go BIG
Yeoh Siew Hoon feels like a kid in a candy store after a marathon trip across the US and Europe.

It was certainly spend big – I flew premium class all the way, booked limousine transfers where I could and stayed in pretty posh places everywhere. I reckoned I might as well splurge since I had been saving up for it like a good girl for 20 months >>

In case you've missed it: Global eNews of December 09, 2021
Hoteliers must adapt to change and innovate, the World's 50 Best Bars 2021 revealed and more >>