Caesars Debuts Non-Gaming Hotel Brand and 6 Other Hospitality Trends This Week

Caesars Doubles Down on Its Non-Gaming Strategy With New Brand: You can bet the incredible brand recognition of the Caesars name will still prove to be a double-edged sword as Caesars tries to delve deeper into the non-gaming space.

Hotel Direct Booking Efforts Create Lasting Loyalty: New Report. Two years in, it appears that consumers didn’t just sign up for the loyalty programs to get a discount. Or even if they did, they’ve also come to realize the additional benefits of booking direct.

AutoCamp Raises $115 Million for Glamping: Travel Startup Funding This Week. AutoCamp has built an outdoor brand on offering bookings for glamping, or camping in amenity-filled recreational vehicles and luxury vans. Given a new $115 million investment, it will expand across the U.S. Read on for other funding news, too, from Intelity, Zingle, Recharge, and LuggageHero.

Luxury Hotels Want to Make You Feel Culturally Relevant: Luxury is no longer defined by pristine interiors and personalized service but limited knowledge-based access, distinct cultural experiences, and curated, specific references. Luxury hotels opening the doors to those experiences set themselves apart for future generations of affluent travelers.

Hilton CEO: ‘We’re Not Trying to Compete With Google, Amazon and Apple.’ Can a single brand ever really own a customer? We think Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta is onto something here, but that won’t necessarily stop his travel peers from trying to do that in their own ways.

Travel Megatrends 2019: Everything Is Converging in Hospitality. This is the year the hospitality industry starts seeing itself the same way its guests do.

Cvent Data Show Potential Group Booking Slowdown: Advance bookings on the Cvent platform seem to be lagging, which could indicate either a downturn in event bookings or simply the fact that event organizers are booking closer to the time of the actual event.