Greetings, hoteliers! Labor Day's cheaper flights and hotels are triggering a last-minute booking surge that most properties aren't positioned to capture. Meanwhile, hotel transaction volume dropped 17.5% in H1 as buyers prioritize operational efficiency over growth stories, and new wellness standards just arrived to separate real programs from marketing fluff.
Actionable Insights
1. Labor Day travel is cheaper this year
AAA booking data shows U.S. travelers will pay less for flights (down 6%), hotels (down 11%), and rental cars (down 3%) this Labor Day versus last year. This price relief creates a compelling value perception that historically drives last-minute bookings when travelers feel they're getting a deal.
💡 Launch 72-hour "last-minute long weekend" offers and retarget cart-abandoners with free parking or a $25 F&B credit. Test these conversion triggers this week.
2. H1 hotel transactions drop 17.5% with buyers holding back
Global hotel deal volume reached $24.5B in H1 2025, 17.5% below last year, suggesting ongoing price-expectation gaps and rate uncertainty. Buyers are prioritizing operational efficiency over growth projections.
💡For assets seeking capex or exit, prioritize NOI proof (ancillary revenue, payroll automation) over growth stories. Buyers are paying for efficiencies.
3. New wellness standards separate real programs from marketing
Two wellness tourism organizations launched Core Wellness Standards for Hotels this week, a first global framework to combat wellness-washing with 12 measurable benchmarks across five pillars: Healthy Eating, Holistic Healing, Nature, Movement, and Local Impact.
💡Audit your wellness copy and packages this week. Align amenities, certifications, and staff training to the new standards to justify ADR premiums. Document everything.
Everything else in hospitality this week
Extended-stay softens in Q2 after Q1 gains. Re-segment with 14-night offers for project crews and work-amenity add-ons.
Parking tech emerges as a hidden profit lever: dynamic pricing and EV charging can lift non-room revenue 5-10%.
Americans are targeting Canada for fall trips despite weaker southbound flows. Dollar strength is driving 30% Y/Y search increases.
Business travel to the U.S. proves resilient, so capture shorter trips with 24-hour flexibility packages.
Canada posts the best RevPAR growth of 2025 in July with the highest occupancy since 2019. Lock in fall/winter group contracts now.
Improve your AI skill today
Guest reviews are often skimmed for obvious complaints, but the real value lies in pattern recognition—uncovering what guests don’t say outright. Instead of asking AI for a generic “summary,” you can force structured analysis with a multi-step classification prompt.
This prompting technique breaks a messy dataset (like free-text reviews) into categories, drivers, and actions, ensuring insights are both diagnostic and tactical.
Analyze these 50 recent guest reviews for my hotel. For each, identify:
1. Core sentiment (positive / negative / mixed)
2. Themed category (room, staff, F&B, location, price, amenities)
3. Hidden drivers (e.g., tone, unmet expectations, repeat mentions)
4. Top 3 recurring issues/opportunities across all reviews
Then provide:
– 2 strategic actions to improve satisfaction
– 1 quick win implementable within a week
– A predicted impact on NPS if resolved (rate 1–10)That’s it for this week.
Stop leaving money on the table: book your Revenue Growth Blueprint session and identify the 3 fastest ways to boost your RevPAR.