What if Dubai Pearl finally got off the ground? More than twenty years after it was announced, Accor says it is ready to join the mega-project. Meanwhile, the hotel industry keeps opening, changing operator and reinventing itself in every corner of the globe.
Today’s hotel news, 19 September 2026: from new openings to management takeovers and regulatory debates, here is what was worth noting in the sector.
🇫🇷 France
🍽️ Meal vouchers • The GHR puts at €1.22 billion a year the spending “lost” by the restaurant sector to supermarkets since meal vouchers were extended to grocery shopping. The sector’s share has fallen from 46.5% to 34.3% in less than four years; the union is calling for legislation before the end of 2026 and, should the arrangement be extended, a dual usage cap. #MealVouchers #GHR #Restaurants #France
🤝 Business tourism • Owing to insufficient hotel capacity, the anti-ageing trade show, a fixture at the Grimaldi Forum for more than twenty years, is leaving Monaco and will be held in Cannes for its 2027 edition. The episode underlines the Principality’s limits in business tourism, a situation regretted by the Grimaldi Forum’s managing director. #MICE #Cannes #Monaco #Congresses
🌍 International
🏗️ Mega-project • Accor confirms its interest in the future Dubai Pearl, a mega-project announced in 2002 and halted in 2006, whose Al Sufouh site was completely cleared in early 2024. Duncan O’Rourke, Accor’s chief executive for the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, stresses that nothing has been signed, but points to a project larger than originally planned, with a flagship hotel “Atlantis-style”. #Accor #Dubai #DubaiPearl #MegaProject
🚀 Management • Majorcan group Fergus is taking over management of the Don Juan Resort Affiliated by Fergus in Lloret de Mar, the largest hotel in Catalonia with 795 rooms, with immediate effect, the owner having replaced the operator. Fergus already manages six hotels and more than 2,100 rooms there, and plans to open a five-star property in Sitges in 2028. #Fergus #Catalonia #Spain #Management
🌴 Opening • The Lind Hotels is making its Palawan debut with a 91-key resort in Coron, due to open in early 2027 on the site of its very first land purchase, more than ten years ago. Private-pool villas, a dive centre close to Second World War wrecks and an events space for 200 people: the group, already present in Boracay, is banking on low density. #TheLindHotels #Philippines #Palawan #Opening
🍸 Opening • In Berawa, Bali, Etta the Place is opening in two stages: the dining concepts are already in place, with the 15 rooms to follow shortly. Created by Gibran Baydoun (That’s Proper Hospitality), this design hotel, inspired by the 1990s, champions human-scale hospitality, with a martini trolley served at 6pm in place of a turndown service. #Bali #Indonesia #Opening #Design
📲 Distribution • Uber is launching hotel booking directly in its app in Canada, in partnership with Expedia Group: after the United States, it is the second country to benefit. The group aims to exceed 700,000 properties across its destinations worldwide. #Uber #Expedia #Canada #Distribution
💰 Tourist spending • How can Western tourists be encouraged to spend more? In Vietnam, Farah Jaber (Palladium Southeast Asia) and Martin Koerner (Anam) make the case for an ecosystem of experiences around the hotel: dining, shopping, wellness, culture. Ho Chi Minh City has just been ranked 16th among the world’s shopping destinations by Travel And Tour World. #Vietnam #Tourism #Shopping #Hospitality
🛂 Regulation • Australia wants to place tourists who overstay their visas in immigration detention, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite has announced. The Australian Tourism Industry Council fears for the country’s image, with some 77,000 people currently in Australia on expired visas. #Australia #Tourism #Visas #Regulation
🐜 Gastronomy • In Seoul, the chef of a two-star restaurant has been fined 15 million won (around €9,500) for serving dried ants on a dessert, a species not authorised for consumption in South Korea. According to the local press, some 50,000 ants are said to have been served to more than 12,000 customers between April 2021 and January 2025. #Michelin #Seoul #Gastronomy #SouthKorea
⚖️ Human trafficking • Europol has dismantled a network that exploited Indian nationals in Indian restaurants in the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Belgium, generating at least €4 million in profits. More than 70 victims have been identified, forced to work up to 16 hours a day under the guise of fake chef positions; two owners were arrested in the Netherlands. #HumanTrafficking #Europol #IndianRestaurants #Europe
