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1. Flight prices descend as travel demand wanes
With many major airlines cutting 2025 guidance amid dips in travel activity due to uncertainty in the market, airfare is dropping, CNBC reports. Flight prices fell 5.3% in March compared to last year, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest data. Fares also dropped 4% in February.
On its latest earnings call, Alaska Airlines reported a "weaker-than-expected demand" will affect earnings in the second quarter. The airline has cut prices to fill seats, Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett told CNBC in an interview last week.
“The fares aren’t as strong as they were in the fourth quarter of last year and coming into January and first part of February,” Tackett said. “Demand is still quite high for the industry, but it’s just not at the peak that we all anticipated might continue coming out of last year.”
2. Marriott announces $355M acquisition
Marriott International has revealed its intent to buy Netherlands-based lifestyle brand CitizenM for $355 million. The brand, founded in 2008, has 8,544 rooms in 36 hotels across the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific, CoStar News' Bryan Wroten reports.
CitizenM builds hotels using prefabricated rooms that are assembled at its factory in Europe and later shipped to construction sites and targets "a growing demographic of value-conscious travelers looking for technology-driven accommodations," reads the news release.
“We are thrilled to add CitizenM as a unique, differentiated offering to our select-service brand portfolio as we continue to strengthen Marriott’s foothold in this valuable market segment around the world,” Marriott President and CEO Tony Capuano said in the release.
3. European power outage impacts travel, transportation
Infrastructure in parts of Spain, Portugal and France has been greatly affected by widespread power outages occurring Monday. While the cause of the outage is not yet known, according to the New York Times, it has affected millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula.
“The interruption was due to a problem in the European electricity grid,” E-Redes, the national energy supplier of Portugal, said in a statement.
Spain's national rail company, Renfe, announced it suspended operations at its stations and Valencia, Spain, saw traffic disruption in its local train network, both entities announced on X.
Some power has been restored in Spain, according to the article.
4. Hyatt extends acquisition offer of Playa Hotels & Resorts
Originally announced in February, Hyatt Hotels Corp.'s acquisition offer of Playa Hotels & Resorts for $2.6 billion has been extended. HI Holdings Playa B.V., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Hyatt, has extended the tender offer, which expired Friday, April 25, to Friday, May 23, at 5 p.m. EST, unless again extended.
Playa, a publicly traded owner and operator of 24 resorts across the Caribbean and Latin America, has been in exclusive negotiations with Hyatt since December. The brand already announced plans to sell off Playa's owned real estate, setting a target of $2 billion in asset sales by the end of 2027, CoStar News' Sean McCracken previously reported.
5. New Maui hotel makes its debut
Springboard Hospitality celebrated the opening of the Hampton Inn & Suites Maui North Shore over the weekend. The 136-key hotel resides on the site of the historic Maui Palms Hotel in Kahului, which was mostly demolished in 2002, and pays homage to the history and culture of the land.
“We’re beyond excited to welcome guests to Hampton Inn & Suites Maui North Shore this spring and to contribute to the island’s positive tourism resurgence,” Serkan Hizliok, area general manager of Hampton Inn & Suites Maui North Shore, said in a news release.
The region has seen a slow recovery from the pandemic and wildfire. Maui's daily visitors were down 11.2% in February 2025 compared to the same period in 2023, Maui Now reported.
Located at 130 W Kaahumanu Ave., the hotel is bordered by two other Springboard hotels — the 147-room Maui Beach Hotel, which it owns, and the 183-room Maui Seaside Hotel, which will soon see luxury renovations and a brand change to Hilton’s Tapestry Collection next year, Maui Now reports.