Private Equity-Backed Cendyn Names New CEO to Lead Hotel Tech Company

10 travel tech startups announced over $78 million in funding over the past two weeks. 

Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts, took home 13 awards at the 30th Annual World Travel Awards Caribbean & The Americas Gala Ceremony on August 26th.

Ramsey, an accomplished professional with academic achievements from the University of Surrey, City University London, and Cornell University in New York, contributes a wealth of two decades’ worth of experience in the premium hospitality sector.

Private equity firm KSL said on Monday it intends to buy Hersha Hospitality Trust, the owner of 25 U.S. lifestyle hotels, in an all-cash transaction worth about $1.4 billion. The move would take private Hersha at an approximately 60% premium to the real-estate investment trust’s closing stock price on Friday.

From today’s Daily Lodging Report newsletter: Nikkei Asia published an article on Hilton planning to expand its luxury offerings in Asia. Hilton will be bringing its Waldorf Astoria brand to Malaysia, Vietnam, India, and other countries for the first time as part of its plans to open 25 new luxury hotels in the Asia Pacific region over the next few years. That’s up from the 33 luxury hotels it currently runs in the Asia Pacific.

Accor, the Paris-based hotel giant, said on Tuesday that Omer Acar will head its brands Raffles & Orient Express as of March 1. Acar will join Accor’s other brand CEOs in its luxury and lifestyle group (Fairmont, Sofitel & MGallery, and Ennismore) — all of whom report directly to group CEO Sébastian Bazin.

A U.S. hotel tech company with equity backing has acquired a booking engine based in Ireland. 

Entrepreneur Richard Branson and Virgin Group announced a reorganization of their hotel brands on Thursday. Virgin Group, which owns a half-dozen luxury Virgin Hotels, will take control of Branson’s private collection of hotels, retreats, and islands (including Branson’s own much-hyped Necker Island), marketed as Virgin Limited Edition.

Here are some excerpts from Daily Lodging Report from the past week. If you’re not a subscriber, you should be. Get news on hotel deals, development, stocks, and career moves. Sign up here, now.

Four travel tech startups raised $121.3 million this week. 

Amadeus has achieved its first year of profit since the pandemic. 

As Radisson Hotels Group continues to expand internationally through its existing brands, its strategy is to focus on service quality and consistency. For Federico González, CEO of the hotel group, having nine big global brands is better than chasing a mass of weak brands.