Oyo Launches Premium Hotel Brand in Dubai for Indian Travelers

Hyatt has bought the “me and all hotels” brand from Germany’s Lindner Hotels, a minor expansion of its European portfolio. The deal for the lifestyle hotel brand, which closed Friday, adds a 29th brand to Hyatt’s collection of hotel, resort, and timeshare brands.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, June 28, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. 

Long known as the party destination in India, Goa now feels the need to move beyond its image of beaches, nightlife and parties and is looking to present itself as an ideal destination for remote workers.

Start your engines—summer has arrived, and with it, all sorts of new hotel options to explore. There’s a major renovation of a Cape Cod classic with an unbeatable beachfront location. Near Yellowstone, design-forward cabins come with their own private wood-fired hot tub. And on the banks of the Kiawah River in South Carolina, a new Auberge Resort offers some serious Lowcountry R&R just minutes from downtown Charleston, yet worlds away from the hustle and bustle. This summer’s most exciting openings aren’t merely places to rest your head—they really help you disconnect from your home life in order to savor the great outdoors. And isn’t that what summer is all about?

Taiwan has announced that it is “actively considering” extending visa-on-arrival for Indian travelers, deputy foreign minister Tien Chung-kwang said this week. 

Thailand is inviting remote workers and digital nomads to not only visit, but to stay a while with its new extended visa program.

Hideyasu Kiyomoto, the mayor of Himeji City in Japan, this week proposed a significant price hike for foreign tourists visiting Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Currently, the entry fee is JPY 1,000 (about $6) for all, but the mayor suggested increasing it to around $30 for foreigners, while locals would pay $5. 

If you thought the IPL season in India was big, just wait until you hear about the IPO season. Following TBO Tek’s debut on the Indian stock exchange last month, online travel company Ixigo listed on the Indian bourses this week. Join Skift’s Peden Doma Bhutia and Bulbul Dhawan as they discuss the market sentiment towards travel IPOs. Also, discover why Air India’s CEO stated that the airline’s investment in new aircraft will depend on the government’s policies on bilateral agreements and seat capacity grants, and why Accor’s CEO finds opening a hotel in India to be a tedious process. Catch all this and more in the latest edition of the Skift India Travel Podcast

Ennismore, the fast-growing lifestyle hospitality company that’s an Accor joint venture, said Thursday it had entered into a strategic partnership to run and market as part of its family of brands the experiential luxury hotel brand Our Habitas.

Which hotel group is coming up with the largest IPO in the history of India’s hospitality sector? Which large Indian carrier is now offering hotel booking options? Find out responses to all this and more as the Skift India Travel Podcast discusses the latest happenings in Indian travel, tourism, and hospitality in this episode.

The UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Germany has sparked a surge in sports tourism, particularly among Asian travelers, according to data from Trip.com Group.

Planning a summer vacation can be tricky, right? Do you stick with the same tried-and-true destinations you've loved in the past, brave the crowds on a European adventure or head somewhere with cooler weather to escape the summer heat?