New Taj planned for Dubai: CG Hotels and Resorts, the hospitality division of Nepal’s billionaire Binod Chaudhary, signed a deal with Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces to open a new property in Dubai. The company has already kickstarted construction of the 200-room luxury hotel.
Arbor Lodging acquires in California: Arbor Lodging Partners acquired the Hilton Garden Inn Oakland-San Leandro in California. NVN Hotels will manage the 119-room select service hotel.
U.S. leads hotel construction: The worldwide hotel pipeline is at 11,196 projects/1.9 million rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics’ Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report. The global pipeline is up 5% year-over-year by projects and 6% by rooms. Growth is led by the U.S., which now has 40% of the world’s and 29% of its rooms in the pipeline.
Mobile top travel research, booking tool: According to a study of 1,000 mobile users by Opera Mediaworks, mobile is now number one for travel research and booking among U.S. travelers. When respondents were asked if they prefer to research on desktop or mobile, 66% preferred mobile. Additionally, 51% of respondents said they preferred mobile for booking.
Read more at Opera Mediaworks’ website