How Japan moneyballed its way to strong tourism demand

Procurement expert Alan Benjamin, founder and president of BenjaminWest, joins the podcast to discuss what hoteliers might expect from the $166 billion in promised tariff refunds and how getting that money back in the pockets of owners will be a complicated process.

In this episode of the CoStar News Hotels podcast, reporter Natalie Harms discusses hotel group demand trends with STR's Hannah Smith, including how smaller markets in the U.S. appear to be coming out on top when it comes to attracting group hotel business.

When Japan lost more than half of its travelers from China, many worried the year's long stretch of strong performance for hotels would end in that country. Instead, it replaced that demand in the aggregate. Listen for that and other highlights from across the Asia Pacific region with STR's Matthew Burke and Jesper Palmqvist.

In this interview from the 2026 IHIF EMEA conference, CoStar News Hotels' Terence Baker speaks with Navneet Bali, founder and CEO of LyvInn Hotels, who explains his goal of gearing his hostel-hotel brand toward the growing number of young, IT-savvy European travelers.

CoStar News Hotel's Sean McCracken speaks with Trinity Investments' Ryan Donn at the 2026 IHIF EMEA conference in Berlin where Donn spoke about the company's newer approach to finding deals and his interest in the demand outlook in Southern Europe in particular. 

Dimitris Manikis, president of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, joins the podcast from the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA in Berlin.

In this interview from the 2026 IHIF EMEA conference, CoStar News Hotels' Terence Bakers speaks with Wesam Okasha, managing director of TUI Blue Hotels and head of global development, Asia, Greater China and Europe, Middle East and Africa, about the necessity of security in travel, new projects in the works, the future of the Middle East's hotel industry and more.

Kew Green Hotels CEO David Taylor talks with CoStar News Hotels' Terence Baker at the 2026 IHIF EMEA conference about his company's next growth phase, which he said is undeterred by geopolitical headwinds.

In this episode, CoStar News Hotels reporter Natalie Harms discusses the rise and growth of branded residential projects with Nate Siehr, co-founder of The Big Key Group. The company's first project, the Ambar Residences Orlando, is rising to meet changing traveler behavior and deliver on a product outside the luxury price point.

Covivio Hotels CEO Tugdual Millet and Deputy CEO Sébastien de Courtivron joined the CoStar News Hotels podcast while at the 2026 International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA in Berlin to talk about their plans to more evenly distribute their portfolio across Europe, the opportunities of office-to-hotel conversions, the importance of sustainability and high-quality operations, and more.