Patrick Whyte

On the Beach’s careful approach to expansion shows just how difficult it can be to grow in foreign source markets. Europe isn’t one big country and if you don’t make acquisitions, expansion can be a tedious process. But one of those acquisitions might just be the one that pays off in the long term.

Connecting up such a diverse, offline industry like tours and activities is not going to be easy, but the reward for a company like TUI is massive.

Kimpton is pretty unknown in Europe and Asia but that is about to change. Whether it truly is a luxury brand is a moot point; InterContinental Hotels Group thinks it is, and will be pushing it as such.

Given Norwegian's financial situation, we should expect IAG's approach to have been on the low side. CEO Willie Walsh is a shrewd operator and is probably happy to wait things out rather than overpay.

Starwood Capital's sale of a luxury/upscale portfolio represented a good opportunity for InterContinental Hotels to expand its luxury footprint in the UK. CEO Keith Barr obviously thinks there's plenty of room for growth in the sector.

AccorHotels has made quite a shift upmarket in the last couple of years and it's unlikely the acquisition of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts will be the end of its dealmaking exploits.

Where there is smoke there is fire and Sebastien Bazin's comments at Skift Forum Europe last week hinted at an imminent deal.

Travel guides, in their various forms, are a dying breed, especially those that require an expensive army of reviewers. They are still valued by agents and others in the industry, but with cheaper alternatives out there, how long can they survive?

In the tier below the big six hotel companies are a raft of others, jostling for position. Melia Hotels is one of the biggest players in Europe and it will be interesting to hear how it differentiates itself from the competition.

Luxury hotel brands have lagged behind their cheaper siblings when it comes to loyalty programs. In the past they might not have needed to think about such schemes but with data becoming more and more valuable, companies can no longer afford to ignore them.