10 Biggest Hotel Headlines of a Busy Summer 2017

While we've come to assume that summer is a bit of a slower season news-wise — a time to savor the favorable weather outside, and actually take a vacation — that's not what the hospitality industry was up to this year. Indeed, this summer, beginning in June and lasting through Labor Day, there was plenty of activity, whether in the form of spinoffs and acquisitions, battles between companies, data breaches, and brand launches. Here's a summary of the biggest hotel stories to emerge this summer, and hints of what to expect once we enter into the fall. The CEOs of Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Wyndham Hotel Group Are Speaking at Skift Global Forum 2017. Get Tickets Now Marriott, Hilton, and IHG Got Tougher with Their Cancellation Policies While it makes a lot of sense to people in the travel industry as to why Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental Hotels Group would impose stricter cancellation policies, not everyone was pleased to hear the news — especially corporate travel agencies and firms. But, as TripBam CEO Steve Reynolds explained to Skift, the truth is these new policies most likely won't impact corporate travel as much as people initially thought they would. In the future, we should expect to see more hotel brands and companies follow suit, which is something Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta noted during a second quarter earnings call in July. However, it's unlikely those companies and brands will be implementing sweeping, brand-wide policies across all regions and markets. It's much more likely the big hotel chains will pursue a strategy that Hyatt employs: lett