Maldives

Hilton plans to open around two dozen new Hilton Garden Inn hotels in China over the next year, including locations in Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chengde, and Jinan.

Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto, opening Q3 2024, will be Banyan Tree's first Japan hotel, featuring 52 guestrooms, a spa, and two dining options.

The Mandai Rainforest Resort, an eco-friendly resort operated by Banyan Tree and featuring 338 rooms including unique treehouses, is set to open in Singapore in early 2025, following delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The iconic Park Hyatt Tokyo will close for at least a year while it renovates. Though it's hard to imagine how it could improve.

The Maldivian tourism sector experienced a significant revenue decline last year, with resort revenue dropping by $529 million and total tourism revenue decreasing from $5.4 billion to $5 billion, attributed partly to a shift towards guesthouses over traditional resorts.

In 2024, the Maldives surpassed 500,000 visitors, led by China as the top source, followed by Russia, Italy, and the UK, with an average stay of 7.8 days.

Hyatt aims to expand its presence in China's economy and midscale hotel segments, leveraging local partnerships and focusing on second and third-tier cities.

Centara Hotels & Resorts announced its expansion plans at ITB Berlin. Their sustainable strategy is to introduce its style of family-centric hospitality to multiple new markets, striving to become one of the planet’s top 100 hotel operators by 2027.

Katerina Giannouka has left Jumeirah Group, one year into her time as CEO. Thomas Meier, CEOO, will serve as Interim CEO again.

A 60 member House committee in Thailand that is tasked with considering the possibility of developing Thailand’s first legal casinos continues to have trouble completing the task at hand.