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In case you missed it: What IHG stands to gain (and lose) in China

IHG’s big China push: InterContinental Hotels Group just signed 10 deals under seven brands in Western China, but what does it all mean? According to the South China Morning Post, the company has good reason to bet heavily on China. In the first quarter, RevPAR increased 11% in Greater China – 10 % in the mainland and 15% in Hong Kong, well ahead of the 3.5% increase worldwide. It’s still a gamble though according to one analyst who says that rapid expansion can also damage a luxury hotel management company’s reputation by depressing room rates. Let’s see how IHG fares. —Chloe Riley

Vet your bedfellows. The serious battle in the United States between the hotel industry, at least its national association, and Airbnb is getting more intense each day – especially in New York City. This week, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office released a report suggesting Airbnb was responsible for a 9% increase in apartment rentals from 2009-16. He also made robocalls, reportedly funded by the Share Better Education Fund, an anti-Airbnb group bankrolled largely by the hotel industry, to thousands of residents to reinforce the message. The hotel industry followed it up with its own “told you so” statement. However, an Airbnb investigation of the assertion led it to releasing its own statement suggesting the AirDNA data the comptroller’s office used was baked and used without permission. Almost within hours, Airbnb produced a seven-figure advertising campaign in New York, highlighting Stringer’s “deeply flawed” and “pathetic” attack on middle class people who use Airbnb to make ends meet. I am on the hotel industry’s side in this ongoing battle, but it had better be careful about its messaging when it comes to a US$31 billion-valued shared-economy company that positions itself as a defender of the common man. —Jeff Weinstein

 


Baha Mar’s bust-to-boom. Bloomberg takes a look at Baha Mar, whose name triggered nightmares of bad development decisions and bankruptcy just a few years ago. Nowadays, the 2,300-room Bahamian resort is a bustling ecosystem of entertainment and Instagram-worthy moments – even if the novelty does seem to wear off after a few days, the writer says. —Barbara Bohn

 


Bye bye mini shampoo bottles? As Travel and Leisure points out, both InterContinental Hotels and Marriott International have started replacing those signature tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body gel with large bottles with pumps attached to the wall. The hotels claim it’s more about the environment (a spokesperson for Marriott said the larger bottles would only save each hotel about US$2,000 per year), and that many of the amenities end up in the trash. Of course, on the luxury end, hotels actually want guests to take home their more designer toiletries – the perception there being more akin to a bathing swag bag. —C.R.

 


The jokes practically write themselves. Beloved (to the Scots, at least) “luminous orange soft drink” Irn Bru has been banned from the posh golf resort Trump Turnberry, much to the outrage of the locals. It’s more popular in Scotland than Coca-Cola, says Reuters. It stains the very, very expensive carpets, counters the hotel. “Given his apparent fondness for Scotland, enterprising businesses and the colour orange, one might have thought Donald Trump would have been our other national drink’s biggest fan,” the Scotsman newspaper opined. —B.B.

 


Shared economy follow-up. Huffington Post published an interesting report this week about why it is so difficult to regulate short-term rental businesses — because different shared economy participants have different agendas. The report summarizes legislative activity in the United States and presents different points of view on what should be considered. In the end, it refers to how well the hotel industry has been doing despite the likes of Airbnb. The pie is expanding and there just might be room for everyone — but how do we level the playing field? —J.W.

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