Breakfast Briefing - the latest news in the UK and Globally

 Quote of the Week"I'm going to cut taxes bigly, and you're going to raise taxes bigly."Republican candidate Donald Trump appeared to use an unusual adverb in his debate against Hillary Clinton. It has opened up a bigly debate - Is it a word? Or did he really say 'Big League'?  Tweet of the Week Story of the WeekJuly highest month ever for inbound tourism to UKwith 3.8 million visitsRecent figures showed that overseas visitors to the UK spent £2.5 billion in July, 4% up on the same month last year. The Office for National Statistics figures reported that it was a record July for inbound visits from EU countries, the UK’s largest visit-generating region, with 2.3 million visits, 3% up on last year. 

Inbound tourism: Where are tourists coming from?

There was also strong growth from North America, which includes the US – the UK’s most valuable visitor market – with visits up 5% to 580,000. Visits from the ‘rest of the world’, which includes Australia, China, the Gulf markets and India, were up 6% to 790,000.China moved into Britain’s top 10 most valuable inbound visitor markets for the first time last year with visits up 46% to 270,000 and spend up 18% to £586 million.Figures bring inbound visits for 2016 so far to 21.1 million, up 2% on the same period last year and a record year–to-date. Spending by visitors during this period was £11.7 billion.

Photo credits mroach

News of the Week

Marriott International acquires Starwood Hotels & Resorts.Marriott International has completed its highly anticipated acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts to create the world's largest hotel company.

 What does this mean in Europe?

 Marriott’s European portfolio now has 504 hotels open, with nearly 104,000 rooms open and nearly 19,000 rooms in the signed pipeline

• This takes Marriott International from the 10th largest hotel group in Europe to the third largest
• Marriott will be the largest luxury hotel company in Europe
• Marriott doubles in size in Italy, Turkey, Austria, Poland and Portugal

New markets include Malta, Croatia, Slovakia, Monaco, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania, Tajikistan and Slovenia

eHotelier Hospitality News

How to keep hospitality staff happy.A happy hospitality staff will increase your hotel’s overall productivity. The bottom line of any hotel or hospitality-oriented business is customer service excellence and subsequently, profitability. How do you make that happen? Find out more AccorHotels launches new brand JO&JOE.JO&JOE aims to blend the best of private-rental, hostel and hotel formats, with AccorHotels planning to expand rapidly by opening 50 venues by 2020 in destinations popular with Millennials. Read more.

Design competiton explores future of hotel room layout.Chinese studio, FOUR O NINE, won by developing a floor plan that uses the bed as the room’s main element around which revolve all the activities a guest might do during their stay, integrated in a central island with added complementary furniture. Read moreTripAdvisor announces new attractions and booking solution for partners.TripAdvisor and Viator today announced the launch of an enhanced attractions content solution for travel partners and hospitality providers, newly combining TripAdvisor’s rich attractions content with booking options powered by Viator. Learn moreClick here for more eHotelier news

Global Hospitality News

Facing the future: UK hotels forecast 2017.PWC recently published a report on the forecast for the UK hotel industry for 2017, and the key drivers and trends, impacting hoteliers in the coming year. Read more

Andy Murray’s Cromlix Hotel has been named the AA Hotel of the Year in Scotland.The Scots tennis star bought the 15-bedroom mansion, which is close to his hometown Dunblane, in 2013 for £1.8million transforming it into a five star destination complete with a tennis courts in Wimbledon colours. Read moreRocco Forte Hotels is to open a second hotel in Rome at the top of the Spanish Steps, to join the company’s existing Hotel de Russie.The 105-bedroom Hotel De La Ville will open at the end of 2018 following the refurbishment and restructuring of what is currently a 192-bedroom property. Find out more

Corners of the world

Air France fracas: Raucous scenes as shirt-ripping trial begins. Supporters of 15 workers who confronted airline managers during meeting about planned job cuts pack courtroom. Find out moreFirst 'three person baby' born using new method. The five-month-old boy has the usual DNA from his mum and dad, plus a tiny bit of genetic code from a donor. Read moreAn Entrepreneurial Spirit Revives Two Manchester Neighborhoods. An artsy hub of trendy cafes, restaurants, bars and boutiques opened mostly by independent entrepreneurs, the Northern Quarter and its next-door neighbor, Ancoats. Read about it hereWhen is Google's birthday? Confusion over correct date as 18th birthday celebrated. The internet giant is celebrating its 18th birthday on Tuesday with an animated Doodle shown to web browsers around the world. Read more