Tourism exports keep rising: Exports generated by international tourism hit $1.7 trillion in 2018, a 4% increase over the previous year, according to the U.N. World Tourism Organization. By region, Asia and the Pacific led with 7% growth; Europe had 5%; the Middle East had 3%; Africa had 1% and the Americas saw 0%. Central and Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia both saw 9%, the strongest among the subregions.
Union backs de Blasio: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio won his first big union endorsement in his bid to become the next U.S. president. Among other support of the city’s hotel industry, “he’s fought back and pushed back against Airbnb every single step of the way and continues to do it,” the president of the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council said at a rally.
Read more at the New York Post
Park Lane gets financing: Owners of the Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan received US$615 million from Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan to refinance the iconic hotel, which was at the center of a fraud scandal involving previous owner, fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho. Low is accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars.
Read the story in the Real Deal
Hilton trims footprint: Hilton has become the world’s first hotel group to commit to serving more climate-friendly foods to help reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions. The company joins the likes of WeWork and top hospitals in signing on to the Cool Food Pledge, which helps dining facilities track the climate impact of the food they serve, develop plans to sell dishes with smaller climate footprints, and promote their achievements as leaders in a growing movement. The aim is to collectively slash food-related greenhouse gas emissions from signatories by 25% by 2030. The company will initially roll out the effort in the 80 hotels it manages in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands. Already, Hilton chefs have lowered the climate impact of one of their most-ordered items: the burger. The Blended Burger swaps 30% of beef – a highly resource-intensive food – for flavor-boosting mushrooms. Over 500 hotels in 100 countries are already offering reduced-meat options, such as the Blended Burger.
Read World Resources Institute release
Hotel tax increase in Honolulu: Honolulu, Hawaii’s city council approved an increase in property taxes for hotels and resorts. It would add US$1 to the existing rate of US$12.90 per US$1,000 in valuation. The state’s lodging and tourism group opposed the increase, saying it will hurt the industry.
Hawaii Public Radio has the story
Garden Inn in NC: Charlotte, North Carolina-based Maya Hotels will develop a 138-room Hilton Garden Inn in the Steele Creek area of Charlotte. It’s part of a larger retail complex. Groundbreaking starts in 2020; no opening date was given.