Hilton tips

Hilton said Tuesday it plans to let travelers book upscale outdoor lodging, or “glamping,” through its website and app later this year thanks to a licensing deal with operator AutoCamp. The hotel group will let members of its loyalty program earn and redeem points at the campsites run by AutoCamp, featuring amenity-filled tents, cabins, and Airstream trailers.

CoStar Group, the real-estate data giant, was hit last week with a consumer class action lawsuit alleging it enabled several hotel operators, such as Marriott and Hilton, to artificially boost their hotel rates.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, February 15. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel.

Marriott International is the world’s largest hotelier, but Hilton Worldwide is a close rival. The following are noteworthy details from the latest annual 10-K filings for Marriott and Hilton.

Seven-year-old travel tech startup Journera, which aimed to provide data to hotels and airlines to enable seamless customer trips, announced Thursday that it ceased operations.

Amid rising diplomatic tensions, India has now slipped to the fifth position for tourist arrivals into Maldives in January, with just over 13,000 visitors, as per the latest data from the Maldives tourism ministry. Russia claimed the top spot for inbound arrivals in the Maldives in January, followed by Italy, China, and the UK.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 31. 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.

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.

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%.

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

Hotel brand marketers continued last year to buy commercials on old-fashioned broadcast TV — especially for live sports events, award snows, and TV news — despite more attention shifting to streaming platforms.

Hilton has named its newest hotel brand LivSmart Studios by Hilton, the company said on Tuesday. It’s Hilton’s 19th brand and an extended-stay apartment suites hotel concept.

After Hopper’s noisy breakups last year with Expedia Group and Booking.com, Hopper has a major hotel chain problem.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, January 4. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The 2024 prospects for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham look bright. That’s according to a report released on Tuesday by David Katz, a managing director at Jefferies Research.

Traveler sign-ups for hotel loyalty programs have soared in the past five years, and Hilton and Marriott have enjoyed some of the greatest gains.

Major hotel groups in 2023 introduced a wave of brands, including Marriott’s StudioRes, IHG’s Garner, Spark by Hilton, and Hyatt Studios. These brands shouldn’t be confused with other new ones, such as Aman’s Janu, Kerzner’s Siro, Langham’s Ying’nFlo, TAG’s Paradox, and Paliosociety’s Le Petit Pali.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, December 12. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.