Skift Travel News Blog

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has expanded its partnership with artist Louis-Nicolas Darbon on a series of travel posters to celebrate the brand’s ongoing partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. 

The series features seven posters inspired by the cities featured in the 2022 Formula 1 season – including Miami, Montreal, Mexico City, Melbourne, Budapest, Singapore and Abu Dhabi – as well as special edition portraits of drivers Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Each poster is available as an original canvas or limited edition print, with signed portraits also available. The canvases and posters are available for purchase here, with all proceeds from the sales being donated to the Sutton Trust, as part of the brands Community Footprints program. 

“The Ritz-Carlton has a long history of giving back,” said Jenni Benzaquen, senior vice president and global brand leader, at The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis in a press release. 

“As we continue to expand our relationship with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, we are proud to support their partner, Sutton Trust, and its commitment to championing social mobility.”

Los Angeles’ city council appeared this week to have reached a political compromise with the local hotel workers’s union about a controversial plan to mandate that hotels temporarily house the homeless.

At issue is a long-running dispute. Earlier this year, LA’s powerful hotel union, Unite Here Local 11, successfully pushed the city’s council to put an initiative on the ballot for voters in March 2024. One of the initiative’s most controversial proposals was to mandate that hotel operators take part in a city program to place the homeless in otherwise vacant hotel rooms temporarily.

Hotel operators would have to report daily on their vacancy rate and had to accept temporary housing vouchers to cover the cost of temporarily housing the homeless.

The idea sparked outraged LinkedIn commentary. But more importantly, the hotel industry’s array of lobbying organizations, including the American Hotel & Lobbying Association, led a campaign against the idea with a mix of editorials in publications like The Hill and appearances in news programs tied to a survey of locals opposing the effort that AHLA sponsored.

The Center For Union Facts ran a TV ad called “Hotel Hell.”

Hoteliers argued that the mandate was unfair.

Others were nervous about reports of hotels receiving damage when participating in the voluntary effort. LA’s boutique 294-room Mayfair Hotel claimed to suffer significant acts of vandalism and damage during six months of participation in a different effort, called Project Roomkey, which transformed whole properties into temporary shelters, as the Los Angeles Times reported.

As of Friday, a proposal that removed the homeless mandate was still two votes short of passage in the L.A. City Council, reported the Los Angeles Times, but political insiders said they were optimistic. The California Hotel & Lodging Association and the Hotel Association of Los Angeles supported the compromise, which they helped facilitate along with council member Traci Park, Council President Paul Krekorian, and others.

Unite Here Local 11 said it considered the deal a victory. The pact includes the City Council promising to okay a set of fresh regulations on hotel development that would tighten the standards for the approval process to link hotel creation with the parallel creation of residential housing construction. Other criteria include vetting whether there is enough demand to support the hotels and what side effects development may have on the local demand for childcare and other city services.

“We have said all along that our contract campaign has been about two things: housing for our members where they work and a living wage,” said Kurt Petersen, the union’s co-president, in a statement.

Certares Founder and Senior Managing Director Greg O’Hara will be the next chair of the World Travel & Tourism Council. He starts later this month, the organization announced on Friday.

O’Hara has served as vice chair since 2021 and has been a member of the organization ‘s executive committee since 2019. He will be taking over for the current chairman, Arnold Donald, former Carnival Corporation President and CEO.

Certares is a private equity firm that owns Internova Travel Group and has active investments in G Adventures, Brightline, American Express Business Travel Group, LATAM Airlines and other companies in the travel industry.

O’Hara is the chairman of American Express Global Business Travel and serves on the board of directors of TripAdvisor. Prior to founding Certares, he served as the chief investment officer of JP Morgan Chases’s Special Investments Group.

O’Hara recently shared his views on the future of travel at Skift Global Forum in New York City.

Ambuja Neotia, a real-estate developer and operator in Kolkata, has bought Tree of Life Resorts and Hotels, a collection of 14 boutique hotels across India with about 200 rooms that Skift recently profiled.

The companies didn’t disclose the price or terms of the deal.

Tree of Life, based in Gurugram, has seen quick growth from five resorts pre-pandemic to 14 now.

Ambuja Neotia, based in Kolkata, began as a real estate developer but has since become a small conglomerate with multiple interests. In the hospitality space, it is part of a few hotel ventures with about 700 rooms in total in Eastern India, such as The Ffort Raichak and Swissotel Kolkata Neotia Vista (managed by Accor). It also manages about a half dozen properties for Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL).

Himmat Anand had led the Tree of Life for about 15 years. Ambuja Neotia has named Vinoth Ram as the new CEO.

“The Tree of Life brand architecture is perfectly poised to cater to the discernible shift in leisure travel trends, said CEO Vinoth Ram. “My primary objective is to expand the brand’s presence throughout this vast and diverse country, providing an array of unique and exceptional experiences.”

How India’s Tree of Life Is Creating a Place for Itself in the Hospitality Sun

From the unfulfilled potential of the Incredible India campaign to why all his hotels are pet-friendly, Himmat Anand, founder of the Indian boutique resort chain Tree of Life, spells out some hard truths.

Read More

If you want to enter the hospitality sector, start small and get financial support. But be aware that scaling up beyond a certain threshold can be tremendously hard.

That was the advice from the head of one of the world’s largest hotel groups, Accor chairman and group CEO Sébastien Bazin.

“If it’s your dream or passion, just do it and make sure somebody actually helps you financially to do it, Bazin said. “Start with three, four, or five six bedrooms. Be authentic, be sincere, be warm, and welcoming.”

Bazin was speaking on Thursday on a panel at The World Travel & Tourism Council’s Global Summit in Rwanda.

“The difficulty is not to start but to scale,” Bazin said. “To go from one hotel to 12 hotels.”

Accor’s leader said that it’s quite difficult for entrepreneurs to scale up hotel businesses above a certain level, partly because they need to rely on third-party middlemen for distribution to fill their rooms.

“They don’t have the size, and the tendency is to go to the online travel agencies, and they’re going to be eating your lunch,” Bazin said. “Then you have the big gorillas like me knocking on the door, and you’re going to end up working for Accor.”

“Many people have [created regional hotel groups] but could not grow them further,” Bazin said. “It’s a tough business in which you have some tough big guys who really don’t like you to grow that much.”

Advice to Hoteliers, Too

Bazin was also asked about what was something he “hates” about the hotel industry from the personal perspective of being a traveler. He said it was the trouble the hotel sector had in giving its young employees the resources, training, and support they need to thrive in their front-line and behind-the-scenes jobs.

“I was staying at a hotel, and this morning I went to check out, and there was a very young, nice gentleman,” Bazin said. “He must have been 22 or 23 years old — impeccably dressed. And he was in a total panic.”

“He just didn’t have the proper training,” Bazin said. “I don’t like it when people in front of you lose their self-esteem because they cannot operate the way they should operate, and it’s not their fault.”

“We as industry leaders should be better equipping and training our people and giving them what expertise they need,” Bazin said. “Our industry will be stronger if we have hundreds of thousands of different young people who probably never went to college, and we give them chances in life.”

Alaska Airlines has unveiled its latest Disney themed aircraft, aptly named ‘Mickey’s Toontown Express,’ which has been inspired by Mickey’s Toontown in Disneyland Park.

The Boeing 737-800, which is now flying routes across Alaska’s network, features Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck, and saw artists spend 400 hours hand-painting the design onto the aircraft exterior.

Take a look at the time lapse showing the painting process below:

According to a release from Alaska Airlines, this is the eighth livery the carrier has created in collaboration with Disneyland Resorts, and will also see a selection of Disney themed activity books and snack packs offered on board, while supplies last.

“It’s heartening how much our Disneyland Resort-themed airplanes spark joy in our guests — young and young at heart. What makes this even more special is the return of Mickey Mouse on an Alaska Airlines plane since he made his debut on our fleet eight years ago,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska’s senior vice-president of marketing and guest experience.

“Alaska’s long-standing relationship with the Disneyland Resort has helped to create unforgettable experiences for our guests and employees. As a family-friendly airline, it speaks to the care we strive to show everyday with these special touches.”

Kenya will grant visa-free entry to all African nationals by the end of the year, becoming the fourth nation on the continent to do so.

“It is time we… realize that having visa restrictions amongst ourselves is working against us,” President William Ruto said at a conference in the Republic of the Congo, adding that the move would help facilitate free trade in Africa.

Although the African Union has increasingly called on its members in recent years to make cross-border travel in Asia easier, only Gambia, Benin and the Seychelles had offered visa-free entry to all African citizens prior to Ruto’s announcement. However, African nations have been making gradual progress in simplifying entry regulations, according to Africa’s Visa Openness Index.

And Kenya could potentially offer visa-free entry to more than just citizens of African nations. Minister of Tourism and Wildlife Alfred Mutua said at the ongoing World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit in Rwanda that the country is strongly looking into removing visa requirements for visitors outside of Africa as well.

Andalusia Tourism launched a campaign on Wednesday warning tourists they’ll fall in love with Spain’s Andalusia region.

Called “Andalusian Crush,” the campaign features a video montage of Andalusia’s decorative architecture, culture, history and art with Games of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage as its narrator.

Dinklage warns viewers the region will break you “in a thousand pieces” and to be “careful of the Andalusian crush.”

We’ve all experienced that moment of dread when we arrive in our hotel room and begin unpacking our luggage, only to realize that we’ve forgotten to pack the star piece of one of our planned outfits.

Well a new partnership from Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Anthropologie aims to alleviate these feelings of ‘pack-xiety’.

The new partnership forms part of Kimpton’s larger Forgot It? We’ve Got It! program, and will now offer guests access to a selection of complimentary accessories – including bags, belts, and bracelets – that are available to borrow for the duration of guest stays.

Launched in the United Kingdom last month, the new service is accessed via an in-room QR code which directs guests to an online catalog that allows them to browse, borrow, and purchase items.

“Kimpton is a brand known for its thoughtful perks and unique personal touches that enhance the guest experience and leave lasting impressions. Knowing accessories are often the first items to get cut or overlooked while packing, this partnership and accessories collection with Anthropologie provides guests with a chic solution in the event they’ve forgotten that perfect clutch or want to add a little extra something special to their style or seasonal look – whether it’s for a weekend getaway, business meeting, rooftop concert or night out,” said Kathleen Reidenbach, SVP of marketing and commercial for IHG Luxury & Lifestyle Americas and Kimpton Global.

The service is available now at Kimpton Fitzroy London, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester, Kimpton Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, and Kimpton Blythswood Square in Glasgow.

As we approach the end of the year, venture capitalists are spilling some of that dry powder on real estate-tech firms.

San Franciso startups Kasa Living and Samara both raised significant amount in venture funding this week.

Kasa Living, which manages rentals for owners of multifamily and boutique hospitality properties, has raised $70 million in a Series C funding round. The round was led by Citi Ventures and FirstMark Capital. New York Life Ventures, Fireside Investments, and existing investors RET Ventures, Zigg Capital, and Ribbit Capital also participated in the round.

Founded in 2016, Kasa Living collaborates with a wide range of real estate owners, including Greystar, AMLI Residential, and Starwood Capital, as well as local hospitality investors and developers in major cities such as San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Nashville. 

Its core business involves turning investor-owned multifamily apartments, boutique hotels, and single-family homes into professionally managed accommodations. In October this year, Kasa brought on a hotel and converted to an all-studio aparthotel in Los Angeles under its management.

Kasa Living plans to allocate the newly acquired funds towards expanding its operations and broadening its business reach. The company also announced that industry veteran Jonathan Langer joined its board. Langer also sits on the board of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

Currently, Kasa Living operates in multiple cities, including Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh. 

Samara’s Series A 

Samara, the brainchild of Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, raised $41 million in a Series A round, led by Thrive Capital and participation from investors including 8VC, General Catalyst, New Legacy, SV Angel. Airbnb co-founders Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk and Dell technologies CEO Michael Dell also participated in this round.

Samara, initially conceived as a blue-sky product research and development team within Airbnb in 2016, transitioned into an independent company last spring with funding from Gebbia and Mike McNamara, a former CEO of international product development firm Flex.

Based in San Francisco, Samara’s focus is Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs. These include backyard cottages, casitas, and in-law units designed to coexist with homeowners’ primary residences. The company wants to mass-produce ADUs, allowing homeowners to expand their property. CEO Joe Gebbia drew a parallel to buying a Tesla online in his interview to Fortune —customize your options, tailor it to your preferences, and click “order.”

Its flagship product, “Backyard,” spans 420 to 690 square feet, priced between $269,000 and $369,000. With newfound funding, Samara will push its sales and marketing efforts.