Abu Dhabi company to invest USD20b in marina development in Maldives, Vietnam faces tourism labor shortage and more...

Abu Dhabi company to invest USD20b in marina development in Maldives
Wednesday, 23rd September 2026

The Government and Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills have agreed commercial terms for a USD 20 billion waterfront and marina development in Ras Malé, featuring tourism, residential and commercial facilities.

At full maturity the project is projected to draw over one million annual visitors, generate more than USD 2 billion in yearly tourism revenue, and create over 54,000 jobs >>

Vietnam faces tourism labor shortage
23 Sep 2026 : Vietnam's tourism industry is racing ahead, with international arrivals hitting new highs, but the sector is facing a growing shortage of skilled workers, from hotel staff and chefs to foreign-language guides and senior managers >>

YOTEL makes Thailand debut
22 Sep 2026 : YOTEL, the global hospitality brand known for its design-led, tech-enabled hotels, is set to make its debut in Thailand with the opening of YOTEL Bangkok Sukhumvit in October >>

Regent Hotels & Resorts to debut in French Polynesia
22 Sep 2026 : IHG and long-standing partner Pacific Beachcomber to bring Regent’s distinctive expression of modern upper luxury to one of the world’s most iconic island destinations >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Cornell’s AI Travel Planning Study and the Layer It Didn’t Measure
Wednesday, 23rd September 2026

Cornell’s research explains why travelers hesitate to trust AI recommendations. It is careful, well constructed, and the segment-level framing is genuinely useful.

It also leaves the harder question standing. Hotel consideration can now form inside AI systems the hotel does not control: the model, the retrieval process, the citations, the competing properties, and the synthesized answer. A hotel cannot resolve that by redesigning its own AI interface >>

An Exceptional Commercial Quarter
Every commercial measure improved, why did the hotel produce less profit? We have become very good at managing occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, and market share. Those measures are useful, but improving them does not necessarily produce a better economic outcome for the owner >>

In case you've missed it: Global eNews of September 21, 2026
Economic Impact Research: Global trends report, Dubai’s tourism records highest visitor numbers since February 2026 and more >>