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1. UK job numbers fall
In the first quarter, the number of open employment positions in the United Kingdom dropped to 781,000 and the number of people on payrolls fell by 78,000, according to the U.K. Office for National Statistics. One likely cause of these declines was companies tweaking staffing numbers before increased budgetary costs came into effect on April 1. These cost increases include the increase in the National Living Wage and employer-paid contributions to National Insurance.
The ONS reported the U.K.'s unemployment rate is 4.4%, the same level as the fourth quarter. Average wage rates are increasing, but it is yet to be seen how the U.S. government’s tariffs could affect U.K. wages.
2. Travelodge acquires 11 hotels, including 9 from Louvre’s Hotel Campanile brand
British budget hotel group Travelodge has acquired 11 hotels for an undisclosed price, nine of which are from brand Hotel Campanile, part of the Louvre Group owned by Chinese company Jin Jiang. Travelodge is now one hotel shy of having 600 in the U.K. and also has a small handful of hotels in Ireland and Spain.
The nine hotels, with a total of 951 keys, are in the U.K. towns and cities of Birmingham, Bradford, Dartford, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Swindon. The other two, one Ibis hotel operated by Accor and one independent, are in Bromsgrove near Birmingham and Wakefield, Yorkshire.
Steve Bennett, Travelodge’s chief property and development officer, said “acquisitions of properties which can be rebranded to Travelodge are a key part of our development strategy. … We have a requirement to open over a further 300 hotels across the U.K.”
3. Corinthia Hotels secures £192 million financing from UK bank
Maltese hotel firm Corinthia Hotels has secured a £192 million ($253 million) financing agreement from U.K. bank Barclays for the 279-room Corinthia London. Barclays said it is the largest loan it has made to the hotel sector in 20 years, according to The Times of Malta. The bank added the loan is part of an overall syndicated term loan of £205 million that “will support the future growth of their luxury five-star location in London.”
Barclays has been the banking vehicle of the Corinthia London since it opened in 2009.
4. Galveston’s 'Queen of the Gulf' hotel gets total revamp
The Hotel Galvez, first opened in 1911, has reopened following a total renovation that brings back a Galveston, Texas, hotel back to its former glory, writes Hotel News Now’s Natalie Harms. The hotel's owner Seawall Hospitality, which bought it in 2021, already has attracted Hollywood to the hotel. Seawall’s CEO and founder Mark Wyant said Paramount Pictures has filmed a television series in and around the property, which has 219 rooms.
Seawall already has a partnership with Marriott International brand Autograph Collection, and the Hotel Galvez has been renamed the Grand Galvez Resort, Autograph Collection. Wyant's decision to paint the hotel a fresh shade of pink wasn't a popular decision locally.
“Since all of the Galvez's original photos were in black and white, [we] couldn’t figure out what the exact original color of the hotel was,” Wyant said.
5. China port activity to US tumbles due to tariffs
Activity at Chinese ports have tumbled 9.7% in the week of April 7-13 as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff changes start to take effect. The Wall Street Journal reported that the fall was 0.88% weaker than the previous week, the first week in which higher tariffs were imposed on Chinese exports to the U.S.
The WSJ reported another data point for the week ending Apr. 11, stating the “Ningbo Container Freight Index reported an 18% week-over-week slide in freight rates to the US west coast and a 10.8% decline in the cost of shipping to the east coast.” For the same period, freight rates to Europe increased 1.8%, to the eastern Mediterranean by 13%, to the western Mediterranean by 15.3% and to South America by 52.5%.