Traveling Blog: IHG Buys Regent Hotels + Booking's Pivot + Vacation Rental Tech Arms Race

March 14, 2018

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Editor's Note

InterContinental Hotels Group made good on its promise to pick up a luxury brand, and it did so in taking a majority stake in Regent Hotels, as Hospitality Editor Deanna Ting reports. The acquisition meets all of InterContinental's pre-ordained criteria — including buying an asset light brand with a smallish number of properties and one that hasn't made waves in a while. Is InterContinental's shopping spree done, though?

Meanwhile, Booking.com officials will deny it, they'll says it's premature and that they are merely in test mode, but rest assured that the mostly lodging-only company is on the road to becoming a full-service online travel agency. With Airbnb talking about moving in that direction, and Expedia and Ctrip already there, it makes total sense to be immersed in travelers' entire trip-planning experience.

— Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor

Vacation rentals are grappling with how to meet and exceed guest expectations across a fragmented market. As the industry grows, this challenge only gets tougher. A new generation of fast-evolving technologies could be part of the solution.

IHG Is Buying a 51 Percent Stake in Regent Hotels for $39 Million

Well, that didn't take very long. Will this luxury brand with a past be a good fit for IHG? Or is it too little, too late, to give Regent the comeback it deserves?

Booking Is on the Road To Becoming a Full-Service Online Travel Agency

Booking.com keeps hinting that it intends to become a full-service travel agency. But these products are often less profitable than hotels. So it risks a bumpy ride. No wonder it is considering revamping its rewards program and building a chatbot to help with merchandising.

United Airlines May Introduce Domestic Premium Economy

Don't criticize airlines for segmenting their product. This is a basic business principle: Airlines want to sell customers the most expensive products they're wiling to buy.

These Destinations Did Well Despite U.S. International Tourism Slump

Many U.S. destinations have blamed the president and strong U.S. dollar for the visitor slump during the past year. But might the impact have been softened if U.S. tourism had a cabinet slot to supplement the efforts of Brand USA? Many other countries have had such representation for decades.

Is the Crypto-Luxury Travel Market Worth the Risk?

Bitcoin's growth has made a lot of people very wealthy, and more companies are looking at tapping into what could be a lucrative market. The problem, though, is the unpredictable nature of cryptocurrency markets means accepting these virtual currencies comes with considerable risk.

The Future of Luxury Sits at the Intersection of Travel and Fashion

There are countless lessons to consider when examining how luxury fashion, auto, and hospitality are already perfectly integrated inside the world's fashion capital.

It's not easy to bring the 'fail fast' mantra to an airline. But through its innovation hub in Berlin, Lufthansa is trying to bring some tech-world principles to the airline business. That's a good thing.

A Boutique Hotelier's Perspective on Co-Working and the Future of Hospitality

The beauty of Ennismore's flagship brand, Hoxton Hotels, is how it distills what the original boutique hotel pioneers did, but makes it relevant to today's audiences on a more equitable, democratic scale. CEO Sharan Pasricha's approach to hospitality — an outsider's perspective, if you will — is equally refreshing.

InterContinental Hotels Is Closing In on a Luxury Acquisition

Asset light, something with history and heritage, fewer than 200 hotels ... IHG CEO Keith Barr has quite a specific wish list. It doesn't sound like we'll have to wait too long until we find out the identity of the luxury hotel brand in question.

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