A Look Back at What the Hospitality Industry Taught Itself in 2017
Photo Credit: Hyatt invested in Oasis in 2017, as the hospitality industry put new focus on vacation rentals, especially in the luxury arena. Oasis
Skift Take
In 2017, the hotel industry took stock of the prior year's major mergers, focused on putting them all together, and worked on figuring out a path into the future.
The year 2017 was one preceded by a roller-coaster of a year in hospitality that saw a multitude of mega mergers, one of which — Marriott-Starwood — was particularly drama-filled.
Last year wasn't without its fair share of excitement, too, but it was also a period in which brands took time to really focus on what lies ahead. Now that those big mergers have taken place, the hard part has arrived: figuring out how to put everything together, and leading these companies well into the future.
Here's a look at some of the biggest hotel stories and themes we covered in the past year, and what to pay attention to as we head into the next one
The Era of Consolidation Continues
We didn't see in 2017 as many mergers and acquisitions of the magnitude that we saw in 2016, but there were a number of smaller transactions that took place and, as Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson predicted, consolidation is likely to continue.
Some notable acquisitions in 2017 included Airbnb's purchase of L
