American Financial Group (NYSE: AFG), the Cincinnati-based insurance holding company, announced on 31 August 2026 the completion of the sale of the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina, a hotel and marina complex located in Mount Pleasant, near Charleston, South Carolina. The deal is expected to generate pretax core operating earnings of approximately $125 million, or close to €108 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. It follows an earlier sale agreement that fell through in June 2025, in a US resort market where several hotel REITs have recently sold waterfront assets at strong valuations.

🔎 Today's trend: hospitality caught between labour tensions and reinvention. From Scotland to the Côte d'Azur, restructurings and workplace disputes are multiplying, while Lyon, Saint Lucia and the Algarve show a sector that continues to innovate and reposition itself.

The global luxury travel advisor network reports a 20.8% rise in sales in 2026, driven by experiential luxury, wellness and a fast-growing ultra-high-net-worth clientele.

Governor Kathy Hochul has unveiled NY Loves Canada, a discount programme for Canadian travellers, after visits to New York State fell more than 26% in 2025. Led by I LOVE NY, the initiative offers savings on accommodation and attractions for late summer and autumn, with some deals running through December. It aims to stem a decline that is hitting hotels and tourism hardest in the state's border regions.

Marco Benvenuti, co-founder of Duetto and creator of the Open Pricing method, passed away on 28 August 2026 in San Francisco following a three-year battle with cancer. He founded the company in 2010 with Patrick Bosworth before helping build it into one of the leading revenue management software providers for the global hotel industry.

🔎 Today's trend: the courts take centre stage in hospitality news. Between a validated dismissal in Spain and a conviction of Disneyland Paris a decade after a tragedy, the sector finds itself before the judges - while hotel groups continue expanding their territorial footprint, from La Ciotat to the Basque Country.

Canarian hotel group Lopesan Hotels & Resorts is to receive €300 million from the Canary Islands government, under an amicable settlement that brings to a close more than twenty years of litigation stemming from the 2001 and 2003 urban planning laws. Announced on 26 August 2026, the wider agreement, covering €485 million paid out to a group of hotel developers, is expected to allow the reactivation of more than twenty projects that have been stalled for two decades in the south of Gran Canaria.

Prime Hotel Assets Fund, backed by J&T Investiční společnost and J&T Banka, has acquired the mixed-use Prague Marriott Hotel & Millennium Plaza complex in the heart of the Czech capital from PH Properties. Dosfield Group is acting as strategic partner on the deal, with the seller advised by CBRE. This is the largest single-asset hotel transaction in Central and Eastern Europe in 2026, and one of the most significant in Europe this year.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank partners with Marriott Bonvoy and Visa to offer two premium cards in the United Arab Emirates, featuring Elite status and points on everyday spending.

German group Merkur Spielbanken Beteiligungs GmbH has signed a purchase agreement for 95% of Casigrangi, holding company of the Le Stelsia casino group, paving the way for a simplified tender offer for Company Française de Casinos at €6.19 per share.

The asset manager has sold the historic Gran Vía building housing the Room Mate Macarena hotel, formerly the Hotel Rex, which opened in 1945, for €80 million.

JLL has arranged a €49 million ($57 million) refinancing for the Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square, a 306-key luxury hotel in the heart of Center City Philadelphia. The deal was concluded on behalf of Clearview Hotel Capital, the property's owner, with Simmons Bank. It underlines the strength of the US hotel refinancing market for distinctive urban assets.