Choice Hotels targets the sub-Saharan and southern Africa regions, Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 Star winners and more...

Choice Hotels targets the sub-Saharan and southern Africa regions
Friday, 20th February 2026

African market entry launches with three Kenyan hotels and firmly embeds Africa within Choice Hotels’ EMEA growth strategy, marking a major step in the expansion and diversification of its EMEA footprint >>

Southwest brings Starlink ultra-fast WiFi onboard
19 Feb 2026 : Southwest Airlines is taking inflight connectivity to new heights with Starlink, to bring the fastest WiFi in the sky this summer >>

Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 Star Award winners—Including the world’s first Five-Star cruise
16 Feb 2026 : From Abu Dhabi to Zurich, the 68th annual luxury hospitality awards celebrate the finest hotels, spas, restaurants, ocean cruises and cruise restaurants >>

Hilton expands its portfolio in Makkah
18 Feb 2026 : DoubleTree by Hilton Makkah Aziziyah and Wirgan Al Noor, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, now welcoming guests in the Holy City >>

Swiss-Belhotel strengthening its brands in Indonesia
16 Feb 2026 : Swiss-Belhotel International continues to accelerate its expansion in Indonesia’s island tourism sector with the recent signing of two new resort management agreements: Māua Kapal Kecil by Swiss-Belhotel and Villa Riahi by Swiss-Belhotel >>

IHG to debut its luxury lifestyle brand, Kimpton in Qatar
15 Feb 2026 : Iconic boutique lifestyle brand to transform a landmark property, marking a significant expansion for IHG’s luxury and lifestyle portfolio in the Gulf >>

ALIS 2026 Takeaways: A Hotel Investment Landscape Defined by Liquidity, Caution, and a Race for Differentiation
14 Feb 2026 : The 2026 ALIS Conference made one thing clear: the hotel industry is navigating an unusual moment where capital is plentiful, deal flow is scarce, and the operating landscape is rapidly and constantly shifting >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Ten Big Longevity Trends and Their Hotel Applications for 2026
Friday, 20th February 2026

With every new trend in the broader wellness space, there are opportunities for hotels to capitalize on these trends in order to obtain heightened brand equity, ADR growth or boosted total revenues.

To keep things neat and listicle-ized, here are ten to consider, although there are numerous others to research and ponder for how they can add value >>

Why Luxury Hotel Marketing Fails — And What’s Structurally Broken Underneath
Why Direct Bookings Stall (Even When Marketing Looks Busy): Luxury hotels don’t struggle because they lack marketing activity, they struggle because demand is being created outside their control — and closed by third parties >>

The Difference Between a Proactive and Reactive Customer Service and CX Strategy
The definition of a proactive customer experience is simple: The company reaches out to the customer before they call about a problem >>

The Mille Club: Potato Chip Pricing Lessons
For those who have not followed our writing, the Mille Club refers to properties with rates over one thousand dollars, pounds or euros, with the ‘mille’ picked up from the Italian language >>

2026 Is the Year of MCP: What Hoteliers Need to Know
AI is happening, but we need to bridge the gap between concept and reality to avoid the hospitality sector being fraught with indecision and a lack of clear vision >>