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1. Death toll from Spanish flooding reaches triple figures
The southeast of Spain is starting to clean up the mess from Tuesday night and Wednesday morning’s heavy rains and catastrophic flooding, which caused the deaths of more than 100 people. The damage was most evident in the province of Comunitat Valenciana, although its largest city, Valencia, was spared from the worst of the rains, which the BBC measured as 491 millimetres (19.3 inches) in eight hours and at its most severe 160 millimetres (6.3 inches) in one hour. It added the rain comprised more than an average year’s total rainfall for the area.
The region, a popular vacation destination, has 100,000 households and businesses currently without power, and many streets in large towns and small villages show ankle-deep mud and piles of destroyed cars and other vehicles. The English-language version of Spanish newspaper El País said the province’s government has announced an aid plan with an initial sum of €250 million ($271 million) to help victims and communities. Insurance analysts are already predicting that the floods will be the most expensive natural disaster in Spain's history.
2. Hoteliers react negatively to UK budget
Hoteliers in the United Kingdom have reacted negatively to the U.K. government’s Oct. 30 budget that put into place £40 billion of tax increases. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said this is a “one-off” budget, “not the sort of budget we want to repeat.” She added Labour officials needed to rectify the former Conservative Party government's “fast and loose” spending that led to a £22 billion hole in the public finances. Reaction from employees and workers, especially those at the lower end of the pay spectrum, was widely positive.
UKHospitality said the budget will place an increased 2025 tax burden of £3 billion on the hospitality industry and bemoaned what it saw as insufficient help in reducing the burden of business rates. UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls said: “Avoiding the business rates cliff-edge next April was critical, and it was important that some relief has been extended. However, the reduced level of 40% is another cost that businesses have to deal with. For those small- and medium-sized operators, their rates bills will still go up in April.”
3. US hotels perform well in latest weekly results
U.S. hotel performance for the week ending Oct. 26 saw positive performance metrics across the board. Occupancy increased 4.5% to 69%, average daily rate increased 4.6% to $168.69 and revenue per available room increased 9.3% to $116.32, according to CoStar hospitality data.
In the top 25 U.S. hotel markets, New Orleans showed the highest jumps in ADR and RevPAR, with a 64.1% increase in ADR to $301.30 and a 77.6% increase in RevPAR to $227.24, due to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. The only city in the Top 25 to show negative performance scores across all the metrics was Las Vegas, which posted an occupancy decrease of 6.3% to 83.7%, an ADR decrease of 1.7% to $234.58 and a 7.9% decrease in RevPAR to $196.40.
4. Brigade latest Indian hotel firm to seek IPO
Hotel operator Brigade Hospitality Services — which is fully owned by hotel developer Brigade Enterprises — will be the latest hotel firm in India to be floated on the Bombay Stock Exchange in an initial public offering, according to the Economic Times of India. It has eight hotels — affiliated with Accor, IHG Hotels & Resorts and Marriott International — five independent resorts and two convention centers. All its assets are in Southern India.
The IPO intends to raise 9 billion Indian rupees ($107 million). Other Indian firms that are going through or have gone through the IPO route in 2024 include Ventive Hospitality in September and Park Hotels in February.
5. Choice and Faranda sign 700-room Spanish hotels deal
Amsterdam-based Choice Hotels Europe, Middle East and Africa has signed a “long-term strategic agreement” with Spanish owner Faranda Hotels & Resorts to expand Choice’s Spanish portfolio by eight hotels and more than 700 rooms. The hotels Choice will now operate are in second-tier Spanish locations —A Coruna and Santiago de Compostela — in the province of Galicia — Gijon in Asturias, and Santander in Cantabria.
Six of the properties have already been affiliated with Choice, and all of them will be part of Choice’s Ascend Hotel Collection brand. The other two hotels will undergo a full renovation and open next summer. Faranda has 18 hotels in Latin America, including 12 in Colombia.