New Fosun strategy: Hong Kong-based Fosun Tourism Group will adopt an asset-light strategy and run under management contracts the Club Med resorts it plans to launch in China and other countries over the next few years, its chairman told Reuters. The three-year-old arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, which posted its first annual profit in 2018, will launch at least 11 new resorts in the coming years under the French brand with minimum capital expenditure, as part of a two-pronged approach to accelerate growth. It already flagged the launch of the resorts in December but did not provide details about the business model.
Federal shut-down bad for D.C. hotels: The 35-day U.S. government shutdown, from December 22 to January 25, dealt a crushing blow to profitability for D.C. hotels, resulting in an 88.8% year-on-year drop in GOPPAR for the market during the month of January as a whole, according to HotStats. The shutdown proved a proverbial death knell for hotels in the month. In addition to decreased occupancy, the market reported a consistent decline across all revenue centers. TRevPAR experienced the negative effects of this demand contraction, with a year over year 4.9% fall to US$161.95. The 2% increase in average room rate over that period, to US$191.02, was not enough to offset declining occupancy, leading to a year-over-year drop of 4.9% in RevPAR to US$104.17.
21c gets some Accor love: Accor has added 21c Museum Hotels into the MGallery Hotel Collection, a global network of more than 100 boutique hotels in 26 countries. The announcement marks the arrival of the MGallery brand into North America. 21c Museum Hotels – MGallery are now bookable through Accor reservations systems, including Accor.com. 21c will also officially join Le Club AccorHotels as of April 1, 2019, affording 21c guests full access to Le Club AccorHotels member benefits, status points, and the earning and burning of rewards points.
Welcome to Brazil: The Brazilian Government announced Monday that the country would allow visa-free entry for citizens of The United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan, effective in 90 days (June 17th). Until then, the current e-visa will be required. Citizens of those countries wishing to visit Brazil will no longer need to apply or pay for a visa. They will be able to stay in Brazil for 90 days from the date of first entry in the country, extendable for an equal period, provided that it does not exceed one hundred and eighty days, every twelve months, counted from the date of the first entry into the country.