IHG’s 17 Brands Deciphered and Other Top Stories This Week

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including on the impact of coronavirus. Every weekend we will offer you a chance to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier.

Every One of IHG’s 17 Hotel Brands Explained: IHG has assembled a hospitality collection with some of the most wide-ranging and eclectic brands in the world. Here’s what you need to know about every one of them.

Amadeus to Use Marriott and IHG Deals as Hotel Tech Springboard: Say what you will about Amadeus, it undeniably dreams big, audacious dreams. At a time when many institutions pursue small solutions for trivial problems, the travel tech titan has big hopes for reshaping how hotels operate and sell their themselves online.

The Biggest Innovators in Travel and Hospitality — Summer Edition: The distance between very good and superb is actually quite far and it requires motivated teams, attention to detail, and above all creativity to break out of commodity service delivery. Here are a few brands, ideas, and services that deserve a tip of the hat.

Airbnb and Expedia Momentum Slowed in June While Booking.com Showed Strength: Booking.com, with its hotels, vacation rentals, flights and wider array of brands, is a larger and more well-rounded company than Airbnb. Booking seems to be making gains at the expense of both Airbnb and Expedia.

Hawaii Turns Over Tourism Marketing to Group Rooted in Local Culture: By choosing a community-centered nonprofit to help craft Hawaii’s tourism marketing, the state’s tourism authority made a bold statement, severing a century-old relationship with the conventions and visitors bureau. It’s sparking controversy, but this is the uneasy path to redefining the future of tourism.

Delta Expects Big Return of Business Travelers This Fall, Recession or Not: Airline industry bellwether Delta has spoken and the outlook is good. Operational issues are easing in the U.S. and travel demand, particularly among corporations, continues to pick up even as the economic outlook sours.

Blackstone-Funded Edyn Aims to Glam Up Europe’s Extended-Stay Hotel Market: If Hoxton hotels and Airbnb had children together, they might be spacious rental apartments that have eclectic furniture and on-site staff. Edyn, one of a few players in this segment in Europe, suggests the market potential.

Turkey and Greece’s Historic Aegean Dispute Flares Up Over Tourism Marketing: What may have passed off as tourism promotion has now snowballed into a geopolitical issue as Greece raises objection to Turkey tourism’s recent “TurkAegean” campaign. With both countries going to the polls in 2023, the issue might prove to be a big draw for both the ruling parties.

Hype Over New Online Travel Disruptors Is So Overblown: Old entrants like Google and hotel brands will likely be much more disruptive to the future of online travel agencies than Chase, Uber, and Travel + Leisure.

Mastering the Psychology Behind How Guests Want to Pay Hotel Bills: Most pieces of hotel research tend to look at how guests feel about staff service levels, or fluffier stuff like dining and decor, but a new psychological study commissioned by Amadeus reveals the extent to which a brand can be damaged by a poor payment experience.