388 Ventures closes on Catskills resort: 388 Ventures, New York, has closed on the acquisition of the 65-key Calicoon Hills, a boutique resort in the Western Catskills, New York. Spread across 23 acres, the property includes a boarding house with restaurant, bar, coffee shop, barn for events, pool and two more newly modernized buildings with more rooms. There are plans to expand accommodation with 10 experiential glamping units, which will be operational on a seasonal basis. Firas Turkmani and Jordan Brustein of Ackman-Ziff represented the seller in the off-market deal and procured funding for acquisition on behalf of 388 Ventures. The company has tapped Life House, the New York-based tech-enabled management company, to oversee end-to-end operations and representing an expansion of their partnership in the Berkshires, where the companies repositioned and added three hotels into the recently relaunched Lenox Collection. 388 Ventures and Life House are looking for opportunities to grow their partnership with more acquisitions in the Catskills, Berkshires and similar drive-to-leisure markets.
New launch at former NoMad site: HN Capital Partners, Dallas, Texas, has partnered with Denver, Colorado-based operator Sage Hospitality to open Hotel Per La Los Angeles, the 241-key lifestyle hotel at the former site of the NoMad Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The 12-story hotel is a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts and features 10,000 square feet of event space, a new rooftop bar and pool and a new ground-floor café and restaurant which will launch in September. Built in 1922, the building earlier housed the Bank of Italy. The refreshed property has retained the signature features of the earlier hotel while enhancing guest experience.
Service Properties Trust closes sale of more hotels: Service Properties Trust, Newton, Massachusetts, has closed on the sale of 57 Sonesta-branded hotels, as part of its plan to sell 68 such properties, for US$496.4 million. Six additional hotels totaling 755 keys are under purchase and sale agreements for US$37.4 million and are slated to close in Q3 2022. The company continues to market the five remaining properties, totaling 733 keys, and is also marketing 16 Marriott-branded hotels totaling 2,155 keys on an unencumbered basis.
Remote Year launches membership platform: Remote Year, the provider of global work-from-anywhere trips, has launched the Remote Year Membership Platform, which includes a virtual hub for connecting, sharing and learning for remote workers. The platform is complemented by travel passes with savings and perks based on travel frequency. The membership options are available with tiered pricing (US$19, US$49 and US$99 per month), which are also available for companies to purchase as a perk for hybrid or remote employees. Memberships will include access to RY Nation Hub, a new virtual platform to connect with Remote Year’s community of over 4,000 professionals; a central RY Travel Marketplace for professionals to choose from one month at a time or longer trips to more than 80 destinations; and access to in-person experiences to encourage face-to-face connections from informal local meetups to global adventures times to cultural events or with access to locations. The company will also offer RY Nation Festivals for the community. Remote Year will also offer three membership options with tiered pricing — community membership, explorer pass and nomad pass.
Texas offers US$180M grants: The Texas Travel Industry Recovery Grant program is inviting applications impacted by the pandemic, providing US$180 million of federal COVID funds to tourism, travel and hospitality sector. Eligible businesses in Texas that suffered losses can receive a one-time payment of up to US$20,000. Industries that can apply for the program include traveler accommodation, arts, entertainment and recreation, traveler arrangement and reservation services, food and beverage services, RV Parks and recreational camps, breweries, wineries and distilleries and convention and trade show organizers. Funding for the grant program was established last year by state legislators through money received from the Coronavirus State and Fiscal Recovery Funds program, which was part of the American Rescue Plan.
Macau hotels become COVID facilities: Macau has added two more casino resorts to be used as COVID-19 medical facilities to increase capacity in response to rising infections. The east wing of SJM Holdings-owned Grand Lisboa Palace and the Grand Hyatt, owned by Melco Resorts, will together provide around 800 rooms. Previously, authorities had added Londoner resort and Sands China’s Sheraton hotel as quarantine facilities. A total of 22 buildings in Macau have been locked down as authorities conduct the sixth round of mass testing for all residents across the city. Grand Lisboa has already been locked down after several cases of COVID-19 were reported from there. Although the government is yet to impose a citywide lockdown, like in cities in mainland China, most facilities in Macau remain closed.
Travel and tourism deal making activity rises: Travel and tourism deal activity during H1 2022 saw a 3.1% YOY increase, with 573 deals being announced, according to a latest report by GlobalData. Deal activity was driven by better deal-making sentiments in the travel and tourism industry after COVID restrictions were eased. Mentions of business travel among corporates saw a 4% YOY jump in H1 2022. This trend, however, was not uniform across all markets and regions. Deal activity improved by 11.7% and 11.9% YOY in Europe and North America respectively, while Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South & Central America posted a decline of 10.2%, 20.8% and 7.1% respectively. While travel and tourism deal activity increased in many key global markets, it declined in some markets. Deal volume improved in the U.S., the U.K., India, Spain and Germany by 12.8%, 16.1%, 20.8%, 33.3% and 41.2% respectively. At the same time, Japan, China, Australia, France and South Korea saw declines in deal volume of 11.1%, 11.1%, 25%, 5% and 12.5% respectively. The number of venture financing and private equity deals announced fell YOY by 12.3% and 14.6%, while M&A deals rose by 15%.
Rotana launches new F&B platform: Rotana, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., has launched Rotana at the Table, an interactive food and beverage platform that will showcase the company’s offerings, shed light on the people behind them, build a community of food and beverage enthusiasts and drive awareness of the food culture in the U.A.E. and the region. The platform will also showcase the group’s ongoing efforts in sustainable dining. Rotana plans to grow its portfolio by adding 17 new food and beverage outlets by 2023.