Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.

Gunmen stormed the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Friday, killing 21 people and wounding 117 more, with some in critical condition, NBC News reports.

The deadly siege was put to an end on Sunday by Somali authorities, though no explanation of the attack has been given. Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Ismail Abdi, the hotel’s manager, told the Associated Press early Sunday that security forces were still working to clear the area. No more gunfire could be heard after 9 a.m. local time. Onlookers gathered outside the gates of the badly damaged hotel on Sunday morning, surveying the scene," the news outlet reports.

The cruise line industry completely suspended operations at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now two years later is embarking on a recovery that could be neck and neck with the hotel industry.

Sandals Resorts Executive Chairman Adam Stewart said during a recent episode of Influencers with Yahoo Finance's Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer that "the cruise industry is probably our biggest competitor. I think the cruise industry has done an incredible job in the recovery to inspire confidence of its consumers."

Business transient demand is still lagging behind leisure demand across the hotel industry, but speakers at the recent Hotel Data Conference said the good news is most companies are allowing corporate travel again, reports HNN's Terence Baker.

“Luxury is not slowing, but it is becoming last-minute, although [business travelers are] not just traveling for two days but coming with their families. One question is how much of that extra spend is dollars, or loyalty points?” he said. “The pandemic has not changed travel, but it has changed people, what they want, expect and experience."

Stocks in the U.S. fell Monday morning as fears of aggressive interest rate hikes resurface, CNBC reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 429 points, or by 1.27%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.42% and 1.6%, respectively.

“Fed Chair [Jerome] Powell is likely to sound meaningfully more hawkish during his Jackson Hole speech on Friday morning ... than he did at his July 27 press conference, when he said the fed funds rate is already back to neutral,” read a Monday report from Wolfe Research’s Chris Senyek.

Hospitality company Sonesta International Hotels Corp. has teamed up with Shell for the Sonesta Travel Pass, a loyalty program that provides travelers with savings at the pump, according to a news release.

Travelers have the opportunity to save "30 cents or more per gallon on their next fill-up to help fuel future road trips," Robin Ruttle, senior director of loyalty and partnerships for Sonesta, said in the release.

Sonesta has a portfolio of 1,200 properties across 15 brands in eight countries.

Return to the Hotel News Now homepage.