Atlantis in Hawaii: Atlantis Resorts’ first U.S.project will be on vacant oceanfront parcels near Disney’s Aulani hotel at the 642-acre Ko Olina Resort on Oahu, Hawaii.
Read more in Pacific Business News
Google Trips: Google introduced its new travel-planning app, Trips, which plans trips and allows the user to keep track of current and upcoming travel. The app stores information and offers suggested itineraries for 200 cities.
Read TechCrunch’s story and view the app
Europe pipeline growth: According to the recent Construction Pipeline Trend Report for Europe from Lodging Econometrics, the total pipeline has 951 projects/152,085 rooms, up 7% by projects and 6% by rooms year over year. For hotels currently under construction, the pipeline has 423 projects/74,158 rooms, up 9% by projects and 7% by rooms YOY. There are 236 projects/37,482 rooms scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months, up 2% by projects and 4% by rooms.
RAR adds two: San Diego-based RAR Hospitality is taking over management of the Arabella Hotel Sedona, a 144-room property in Arizona, and the Fairfield Inn & Suites San Diego/San Marcos, California, which will open in January 2017.
New COO at Jumeirah: Dubai-based Jumeirah Group appointed Marc Dardenne group chief operating officer. Dardenne most recently oversaw brand creation, development and asset management at Patina Hotels & Resorts in Singapore. Earlier, he was based in Dubai as CEO at Emaar Hotel & Resorts.
Michigan hotelier in plane crash: A private airplane crash on Saturday in Montana killed three members of a family from Harbor Springs, Michigan. Timothy Brown, Tricia Verhelle-Brown and their son Theodore Brown died. The family owned the Colonial Inn in Harbor Springs, the Holiday Inn Express and the Breakers Resort in St. Ignace, and two hotels in Florida, the Seashell Beach Resort and Kingsail Resort in Marathon.
Worldhotels’ digital travel drive: Worldhotels created World Online, a toolkit for its nearly 450 member hotels that the brands says offers “customized online strategies and tactics to drive traffic to a hotel’s own website to generate additional direct bookings.” The program includes website audits and redevelopment.
WoodSpring in Phoenix: WoodSpring Hotels entered an agreement with Amena Hotels to develop three WoodSpring Suites Signature hotels in the Phoenix area.
Emirati resort investors: Investors from the United Arab Emirates were among the top eight buyers of properties in ski resorts last year, according to consultancy Knight Frank’s Ski Property Report. Wealthy GCC families are looking to diversify their portfolios and seeking second homes in Europe, the company said.
Travel survey: Travel Leaders Group’s newest survey on business travelers that showed an increase in the sharing economy and an uptick in business travel bookings.