This year, Hyatt launched a new ‘soft brand’ The Unbound Collection, a portfolio of individual properties with a ‘distinct character’. The popularity and character of independent hotels is being harnessed by soft brands. For the individual hotel owner being part of a collection offers them better exposure and other benefits in exchange for a fee. [...]

In April this year, shareholders from both Marriott and Starwood voted to approve a merger of the two companies, which will create the world’s largest hotel group. In the same month, Shanghai based Home Inns Hotel Group completed a merger with Hong Kong based BTG Hotels Group. The industry is reshaping to meet the evolving [...]

In January Ctrip invested US$180m in MakeMyTrip Limited, India’s largest online travel company and also entered the UK market by buying a majority stake in Travelfusion, a UK-based meta-search website. The words OTA and disruption have almost become synonymous in the hospitality industry. Ctrip is a major OTA in China and is now making an impact across the [...]

Last year Amazon entered and left the hotel booking sphere in a matter of months. The hospitality industry is in flux with new players of all kinds entering the hospitality industry at different angles. Google has also made several ventures into hospitality with its now defunct hotel finder page, and more recently added hotel booking [...]