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Wall Street investors have been pulling money out of China at the highest rate in decades, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reports institutional investment in Chinese stocks and bonds is down $31 billion this year, the biggest net outflow since 2001 when the country joined the World Trade Organization.

Funds targeting Chinese investment, meanwhile, have raised just $4.35 billion this year, compared to the nearly $100 billion annual average over the past decade. But there is belief investment could rebound quickly.

“Wall Street has been very slow and will continue to be very slow to count China out,” Amy Celico, a partner at Albright Stonebridge Group, told the Journal. “They will be ready to ramp up activity as soon as the Chinese economy stabilizes.”

The latest edition of American Express Global Business Travel's Air Monitor projects "minor changes in fares" in North America, with the cost of flights within the region growing less than 1%. Economy fares to Europe and Asia are expected to decrease by 2.5% and 6.5%, respectively.

"Airlines reported record earnings in 2023 resulting from robust demand, high fares, and a drop in the price of jet fuel," the report states. "However, leisure travel, which boosted 2023 revenues thanks to ‘revenge tourism,’ is expected to slow down in specific areas as consumer preferences fall prey to high interest rates. Simultaneously, rising oil and jet fuel prices since June 2023 are exerting pressure on carriers, and adding to the cost burden."

Long a player in Texas and California, Valencia Hotel Collection now has eyes for new warm-weather destinations, and the 20-year-old independent hospitality management and development company has changed things up a bit to enable that growth, HNN's Dana Miller reports. The company, previously known as Valencia Hotel Group, has made some changes to its team structure to better compete in an increasingly competitive space.

"Twenty years ago, boutiques and luxury independent hotels didn't have a lot of competition. Now ... you've got all these big brands that are rolling out several lifestyle brands and soft [brands] that are absorbing a lot of these grande dame independent hotels," Chief Operating Officer Roy Kretschmer said. "What's left now for us is that true independent, boutique luxury experience where that discerning traveler doesn't want to be part of that commoditized experience."

Pakistani newspaper Dawn reports from senate hearings in that country that Pakistan International Airlines hopes to eventually demolish the Roosevelt Hotel in New York and construct a new hotel in its place through a joint venture. The hotel is currently under contract with New York City officials for three years to be used as a migrant shelter.

The historic hotel was built roughly a century ago, opening in September 1924, and has not operated as a hotel since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been owned by PIA since 2000.

HNN's Bryan Wroten reports hoteliers hoping for legal clarity on whether they can face lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act from people who don't stay at their hotels are likely disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to vacate judgment on a case. Acheson Hotels v. Laufer was remanded back to a lower court after the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her claims at the heart of the suit.

A statement from American Hotel & Lodging Association President and CEO Chip Rogers celebrated what he called a rebuke of frivolous lawsuits.

"While we would have welcomed a broader ruling, the Supreme Court today sent a message to other serial litigants against ‘manipulating the jurisdiction of the [Supreme Court],’ and revealed how the court ‘might exercise its discretion differently in a future case,'" he said.

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