Hilton Invests in Tech-Forward Future of Events

Business travelers are tired of sitting all day in drab conference rooms and sending emails from ancient, uncomfortable hotel lobbies.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts wants its franchisees to invest in a new type of connected meeting room tailored to the culture of their cities.

This week we have the latest on Hilton’s attempt to become more relevant to meeting planners and the organizations they serve.

We also have updates on Expedia’s stance on resort fees and Dream Hotels & Resorts’ ambitious growth plans. Oh, and a competitor finally snapped up Caesars for a tidy sum.

Check out the latest below.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet @sheivach.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Senior Enterprise Editor

The Future of Events and Meetings

Hilton to Build Tech-Driven Meeting and Event Spaces for Biz Travelers: Hotel companies are always looking for the next big trend. It’s pretty hard to ignore business travelers’ desire to meet in refreshed spaces and get some work done outside the guest room.

Brand USA Fights for Its Future as U.S. Inbound Travel Weakens Under Trump: Brand USA is confident about securing future funding due to bipartisan support for the program. The reality, however, is that the program faces an administration not focused on welcoming visitors.

Expedia Group Rules Out Charging Commissions on Hotel Resort Fees: Hotels charging resort fees now have the choice of paying higher commissions to Booking.com and/or seeing their properties fall in Expedia’s sort order. The other change that many don’t want to make is to simply — and painfully — stop charging anti-consumer resort fees.

Around the Industry

Lifestyle-Brand Veteran Dream Hotel Group to Expand Aggressively: It’s no secret that lifestyle brands cater to a particular type of traveler, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of money still to be made in the space. As a lifestyle veteran, Dream Hotel Group could have a leg up over larger chains that have more capital to play with.

Caesars Being Sold to Eldorado Resorts in $17.3 Billion Deal: After pushing for a Caesars sale earlier this year, billionaire investor Carl Icahn looks like he has gotten what he wanted.

U.S. Flight Bookings to Dominican Republic Plummet Because of Tourist Deaths: The Dominican Republic tourism minister’s response, dismissing all of the deaths as having occurred from natural causes, doesn’t really provide confidence that the country is seriously investigating the matter.

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Skift Senior Enterprise Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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