Indian hospitality industry has expressed strong disapproval and disappointment in the GoodsÊand Services Tax (GST) tax proposal for the hotel and restaurant industry in the country by the GST Council which concluded its meeting in Srinagar last week, finalizing the rates for commodities and services in the country.

Benchmarking is a hallmark of performance measurement. Knowing where a hotel falls in relation to the performance of its closest competitors is an important first step toward improving its business and profitability. Identifying which property in a comp set is making the most money is an important part of the equation but not the ultimate question.

Although Muslim tourists constitute a large and growing sector of the travel market, greater awareness is needed of their specific requirements. In a recently published review paper, the researchers highlight that some aspects of compliance with Islamic teaching are well known, such as the need for Halal food and the non-consumption of alcohol.

As it continues to further its core mission of Òorganizing the worldÕs informationÓ, Google is moving from a mobile-first to an artificial intelligence (AI) first world, said CEO Sundar Pichai at the Google I/O 2017 Developers Conference at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.

The new Catella Market Tracker, The European Hotel Market, shows a clear shift in the structure of hotels in recent years Ð the budget and luxury segments are the two winners from this development. In 2016, approximately EUR 17.8 billion was invested in the hotel asset class, and growth is expected in almost all European countries, especially Spain, Germany, Austria, Ireland and Sweden.

After the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa raised some concerns about the implications of the proposed Liquor Amendment Bill, the association has called on the National Department of Trade and Industry to communicate openly with the hospitality industry around the status of the Bill.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts is vastly expanding its footprint in Scandinavia with the acquisition of Sweden Hotels, Gothenburg, Sweden. The launch of Best Western Sweden Hotels boosts the Phoenix-based global giantÕs network in to 138 hotels in Sweden and 180 hotels in Scandinavia.

As performance metric growth slows and supply grows, hotel projects find themselves under greater scrutiny. This is especially true for more high-profile, high cost luxury and upper-upscale developments. Speakers on the ÒStrategies for successful development of upscale and luxury hotelsÓ panel shared some of the biggest issues facing high-end development projects today.

As hotels continue to seek ways to recoup revenue from outdated television erotica services that has been lost to newer tablets, laptops and mobile devices thanks to the proliferation of Internet porn, the new advances in VR technology are becoming an obvious way to make paid in the room adult entertainment a viable income stream once again.