Hyatt Hotels Corporation has released a statement regarding the Conservative Political Action Conference, held at its Hyatt Regency Orlando, in which it has been alleged Nazi symbolism was used. Photos of the event’s stage, shaped in the same style as a Nazi symbol, provoked outrage and calls for a boycott of the hotel firm.

In the statement, Hyatt said: "When we learned that CPAC 2021 stage design had been compared to a symbol of hate, we promptly raised this concern with meeting organizers who strongly denied any connection to such symbols. Had we initially recognized the potential connections to hate symbolism, we would have proactively addressed it prior to commencement of the event. Unfortunately, this became clear to us only after the event kicked off.”

In an exclusive interview with Hotel News Now, Karin Sheppard, IHG Hotels & Resorts Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe, said as Europe starts to end its numerous and different lockdowns, now is the perfect time to reinvent the industry. That reinvention includes the potential to raise attention to sustainability, diversity and community demanded by guests and owners.

The company also recognizes the potential for development of its Voco and Kimpton brands, particularly as struggling hoteliers look to brand support through conversions to keep their properties open.

Executives at London-based hotel firm PPHE Hotel Group, which reported a 72.7% year-over-year decline in revenue in 2020, said they are convinced urban hotels are poised to rebound in 2021, and that is reflected in plans for capital expenditure, according to the company's annual report.

In the past year, the company has secured several new credit facilities, including a three-year, 20 million-pound-sterling ($27.8 million) rolling credit facility secured against its Park Plaza London Waterloo hotel; a three-year, 30 million-pound-sterling ($41.7 million) revolving credit facility backed by the U.K.; a three-year, 10 million-euro ($13.9 million) term facility backed by the Dutch government; and 180 million pound sterling ($250.5 million) of funding to complete construction of the Art’otel London Hoxton, its largest pipeline development project.

India, the world’s largest democracy by population, has joined China in returning to positive gross domestic product, albeit only marginally, The Wall Street Journal reports. India’s GDP grew by 0.4% in the three months ending Dec. 31.

The Journal reports that because 80% of India’s economy is conducted by small businesses, farms and independent traders, that recovery is not equitable across the nation of 1.4 billion people, stating “India may have had more people pushed back into poverty by the coronavirus than any other country."

Starwood Capital Group and Blackstone Capital Partners have partnered on a 1.8 billion-pound-sterling ($2.5 billion) term loan for the purchase of Bourne Leisure, a United Kingdom holiday company, in a deal that hints at the continued attractiveness of the staycation market.

The March 1 deal is split evenly between the two buyers. Bourne Leisure operates three hotel brands, mostly in self-contained entertainment zones — Butlin’s, Haven and Warner Leisure — and “employs over 16,000 team members, hosts 25,000 holiday-home owners and attracts 4.5 million guests to 56 sites across the U.K. every year,” according to a Starwood news release.