Sean Oneill travel tips

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, February 1. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Hilton revealed Wednesday that it had signed an exclusive licensing deal with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), a group of 560 boutique hotels unaffiliated with the major hotel groups.

Forbes Travel Guide, a rating system for luxury hotels and other travel products and services, released its 2024 Star Awards on Wednesday. About 340 luxury hotels received “five-star” ratings, while about 1,600 others received other commendations in the 66th year of the rankings.

Hilton executives said Wednesday that acquisitions are possible – a shift from the past 16 years when it has focused on creating new brands rather than buying up existing ones.

Hilton is continuing a more than three-decade tradition of running TV ads during the Grammy Awards: On Sunday, it released spots touting why music lovers and concert-goers should pick its brands when booking hotels.

Hilton said Tuesday it is jumping into the new era by pledging to enable guests to make requests by text at all of its 7,000-plus hotels by the end of 2024. Guests will be able to send messages via the Hilton Honors app, by smartphone via SMS, WhatsApp, and other platforms before and during their stays.

Travel and Leisure Co. said Tuesday it had agreed to buy Accor Vacation Club, the timeshare business of Accor, for $48.4 million.

Loews Corp., the parent of the Loews Hotels chain, detailed on Monday the extent of its financial commitment to expanding in two key states — Texas and Florida — where it’s building four hotels.

Comcast’s Universal Studios released preview images and details about Celestial Park, one of the themed areas at Universal Epic Universe — a $1 billion theme park complex slated to open in 2025 a few miles from its flagship Universal Orlando resort.

Nigeria’s Transcorp Hotels, one of Africa’s biggest hotel players, has posted full-year 2023 results: Profit was up 133% year-over-year, and revenue gained 35.8%.

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection‘s first ship, , saw sold-out bookings in its first summer at sea, so the brand’s executives are now discussing further fleet expansion.

Karim Alibhai knows better than most how to make luxury hotels profitable. He’s the founder and top boss of Gencom, which has owned, part-owned, or developed 8 Ritz-Carltons and 150 hotels under other brands over three decades.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, January 26. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Marriott and Hilton joined all the major hotel groups this week in providing updates on their hotel development pipelines as they gathered at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles.

Jolyon Bulley became IHG’s CEO of the Americas in July 2023. He has big shoes to fill — his predecessor, Elie Maalouf, ascended to group CEO.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 24. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 23. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Expedia CEO Peter Kern pled his case to hotel owners Monday: Take seriously the billion-dollar issue of wholesale rates being misused online.

Global hotel dealmaking will speed up in 2024 thanks to a more positive financing environment, exceeding 2023’s unusually low level by 15% to 25%.

Marriott CEO and president Anthony Capuano faces a pivotal point in the growth trajectory at the world’s largest hotel group.

Hilton said on Monday it had launched a program to match aspiring hotel owners with capital.