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The visions that emerged at Host 2025 align with global trends that are reshaping professional hospitality. A path in which Host Milano once again confirms its role as an innovation hub.

The vibrancy of exchanges and the quality of content at Host 2025, which concluded at Fiera Milano on 21 October, speak of a sector in transformation. Technologies, creativity and education converged within a platform rich in connections, moving toward innovative materials and increasingly smart uses of digital technologies, combined with experiential formats and an emotional, almost vintage, design approach.

This high rate of innovation also enhanced the exhibition’s increasingly international dimension, with operators and exhibitors from all over the world. Among the most represented countries in terms of companies were Germany, Spain, France, the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, while strong participation from around 75 countries brought significant attendance from the Americas (35%), the Middle East and Africa (28%), Asia and Oceania (14%), and Europe and CIS countries (24%). Great attention was also drawn to the bakery world, highlighted by the renewed MIPPP focus.

Global Data and Market Signals: A Strengthening Dialogue

The trends observed at Host 2025 reflect broader market movements, confirming Host Milano as the platform that outlines the future of the sector in advance. It is a global context in expansion, resilient despite economic fluctuations. According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the food equipment market today is worth around USD 46 billion and could reach USD 73 billion by 2035, with a CAGR of 6.2%. This trajectory is supported by digitalization, IoT integration and a growing need to reduce consumption.

The bakery world is also on a positive trajectory: FMI estimates that equipment for baking and pastry will reach approximately USD 12.9 billion in 2025, with a forecasted growth to USD 23.1 billion by 2035, driven by demand for productivity and automation. In the coffee segment, the same analyst values the food-service coffee market at USD 468.9 million in 2025, with an anticipated annual growth rate of 4% until 2035, sustained by the expansion of cafés and coffee shops and the evolution of the espresso experience.

Towards Host 2027: Hospitality Accelerates with Global Scenarios and New Routes

The insights that emerged from the latest edition mark the beginning of the path toward Host 2027. At a time when innovation, sustainability and new consumption models are redefining professional hospitality, the journey expands on a global scale. The next appointment is Host Arabia, in Riyadh from 15 to 17 December, which will bring the Host Milano ecosystem into a rapidly growing market. In the medium term, the horizon points to North America through cooperation with NAFEM – North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, which starting in 2027 will connect Host Milano with The NAFEM Show, creating a joint pathway between Europe and the United States to highlight corporate innovation and generate new opportunities for meetings with qualified buyers.

These trajectories consolidate Host Milano’s role as a hub where skills, technologies and visions intersect to anticipate the languages of hospitality. The next edition will take place at Fiera Milano from 22 to 26 October 2027.

 
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[LOUISVILLE, KY.––December 30, 2025]––Agentic Hospitality, the AI-native platform built to help hotels thrive as travel discovery shifts to natural language and autonomous agents, announced today that David Wiley has been named Vice President of Sales. Wiley will lead early-stage customer engagement and growth, helping hoteliers understand why AI infrastructure has become essential and how Agentic Hospitality is purpose-built to restore hotel independence in the next era of distribution.

Wiley brings 25 years of sales and leadership experience to the role, including more than two decades in hospitality where he built a reputation for strategic relationship development, consultative selling, and high-performance leadership. Wiley spent formative years at Disney, where he began in an entry level role in 2010 and by 2017, he served as Sales Director overseeing business development, marketing, and operational leadership in California. Most recently, Wiley served as an Account Executive at Microsoft, where he managed strategic travel and leisure accounts and deepened his expertise in enterprise-scale technology transformation.

“The hotel technology landscape is constantly shifting,” said Brad Brewer, founder and chief AI officer of Agentic Hospitality. “Therefore, we needed to build a team that positions the right people in front of the right conversations. Dave knows hospitality. He knows enterprise-level transformation, and he knows how to take the complex issues of visibility, distribution, and profitability and make them actionable for hotel leadership. That’s why he’s such an important addition to this team. More importantly, Dave understands hospitality from the inside and can translate what’s happening into clear, urgent action for owners, operators, and management teams.”

A Defining Shift for Hotel Distribution

In a recent HOTELS magazine cover feature, Brewer described an industry-wide turning point: “Booking is rapidly moving from traditional websites and apps to natural-language discovery where travelers ask AI assistants to recommend and book travel in one seamless flow.” The article warned that results in AI-driven discovery are not neutral; visibility increasingly comes from the data pipelines and partnerships of whoever integrated first, which historically has meant the biggest players with the deepest pockets.

Agentic Hospitality was created to change that outcome by delivering AI-native infrastructure that connects hotels directly to the natural language ecosystem without forcing them into the same dependency cycle that defined the OTA era.

“My job is to be the first impression for every hotelier who’s curious about Agentic Hotel Distribution and who are ready to learn what’s actually happening in the market,” Wiley said. “AI is changing how guests discover hotels, how bookings happen, and how loyalty is earned. If hotels don’t build the right infrastructure now, they’ll be invisible where decisions are being made. I dropped everything I was doing to join Agentic Hospitality because I believe this is the fight hoteliers have to win and I want to be in it with them.”

A Kissimmee, FL., native, Wiley brings a hospitality-first mindset shaped by decades in the industry and a personal belief that hoteliers are in an underdog moment that demands bold leadership.

“I’m a big fan of the underdog,” Wiley added. “That’s exactly where hoteliers are right now. The difference is we can flip the script for good. Agentic Hospitality is the partner you start with and grow with. You don’t have to stitch together multiple vendors, and you don’t have to switch platforms later. We have a full suite built to grow with your need.”

In this role, Wiley said he will lead first impression interactions with prospective partners, qualifying interest, identifying the decision-making team, and guiding stakeholders toward demonstrations with Agentic Hospitality’s leadership and product teams.

“My responsibility is to open our customers’ eyes to what’s changing and what they need to move on immediately,” Wiley said. “I bring executive relationship building, active listening, anticipation of needs, and the ability to tell a great story because this isn’t just a product conversation. It’s a survival conversation.”

The No. 1 AI Tech Investment Hoteliers Can Make in 2026

As AI becomes the dominant interface for travel discovery and purchase, the most critical investment for hotels is no longer a single tool or feature; it’s the infrastructure layer that makes hotels readable, recommendable, and bookable inside AI-driven experiences.

Agentic Hospitality is building the underlying infrastructure that connects hotel data and content to search engines and AI platforms. The company’s approach is designed to help hotels avoid being buried under intermediaries by enabling direct, structured, AI-ready discovery so hotels can be found, understood, and booked without surrendering control.

“The next decade of hotel distribution will be defined by who controls the pipelines of discovery,” Brewer said. “Hotels shouldn’t have to pay perpetual tolls just to be seen. Agentic Hospitality helps hotels embed directly into the natural language ecosystem with fair, direct, AI-native distribution so they can own the relationship, protect profitability, and build loyalty that lasts.”

“When I learned about Agentic Hospitality, I had to be a part of it,” Wiley said.  “AI infrastructure is the most critical investment today.  It always pays dividends—especially right now. The hotels that put together the right foundational pillars will be the ones that stay visible, competitive, and profitable.”

 
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ARLINGTON, Va. 19 December 2025 – Canada’s hotel industry reported its first year-over-year declines in occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPAR) since April, according to November 2025 data from CoStar, a leading global provider of commercial real estate information, analytics, and online property marketplaces.

November 2025 (percentage change from 2024):

  • Occupancy: 61.6% (-1.0%)
  • Average daily rate (ADR): CAD195.94 (0.0%)
  • Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD120.70 (-1.0%)

Among the provinces and territories, Ontario reported the steepest declines across each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-4.3% to 64.5%), ADR (-4.0% to CAD214.35) and RevPAR (-8.1% to CAD138.32).

Among the major markets, Toronto registered the largest drops in ADR (-10.0% to CAD274.79) and RevPAR (-11.6% to CAD206.37). The market’s performance was due to a comparison against Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in 2024.

Edmonton saw the sharpest occupancy decrease (-5.5% to 56.2%).

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.costargroup.com.

 
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BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- , part of Marriott Bonvoy's global portfolio of over 30 extraordinary brands, unveils the global rollout of the newest season of , an editorial-documentary series revealing the spontaneous moments that can only occur across the brand's expansive global portfolio and enticing guests to "next time, be there."

After debuting at the brand's newly transformed global flagship with Chloë Sevigny last year, this season expands across four continents and spotlights five creative forces: multi-hyphenate artist & performer , culinary creative , model and presenter , multidisciplinary artist , and multi-hyphenate artist . Hotel Tales is a cinematic series that captures the unpredictable energy and authenticity of a stay at W Hotels. Each story reveals spontaneous moments – where bold design, unexpected encounters, and playful twists blur the line between reality and performance. These are the experiences that transform an ordinary stay into something unforgettable, celebrating the vibrant spirit that defines W Hotels.

  • At the newly transformed , takes the lead in "The Masked Chase," a playful, cinematic escapade where he recounts the time when his iconic mask mysteriously goes missing before soundcheck. What follows is a high-energy pursuit through the hotel, until the chase concludes in signature W Hotels style: the mask is returned on a silver platter with a handwritten note, "Thought you might need this. - W Insiders."
  • In Hungary, British model and presenter  stars in "Missed Postcards" a design driven whirlwind where a day meant for sightseeing was transformed into an irresistible immersion inside . A whispered recommendation for the brand's signature AWAY Spa, winding staircases with terrazzo-lined corridors, and a velvet-glow dinner at Le Petit Beefbar all conspired to seduce her away from her original plans. "I went back to my suite after an iconic day of surprises," she shares. "The hotel had stolen the show."
  • While visiting the newly unveiled , British chef and model tells the story of how he blurred the boundary between guest and gourmand. He set out to balance creativity, culinary inspiration, and his love of Italian cooking, but what began as a simple search for inspiration becomes a behind-the-scenes invitation into the hotel's culinary world: impromptu pasta tastings at the hotel's contemporary Italian food concept Tratto, animated conversations with chefs, and unexpected discoveries from the "Off Menu" repertoire.
  • Multidisciplinary artist  stars in "Writer's Block, Unblocked," an experience that transforms creative frustration into unexpected inspiration. She arrived determined to draft her next piece, but the hypnotic energy at W Dubai – Mina Seyahi pulled her in new directions. Sun-drenched lounges and skyline-framed pools to late-night conversations and design-soaked corners, every space sparked unexpected clarity. Each encounter nudged her further from her notebook and deeper into the city-meets-desert rhythm of the hotel. By nightfall, her writer's block evaporated, replaced by a story she could only have unlocked at W Hotels.
  • At , multi-hyphenate artist recounts when a simple joke turned into a quintessential Whatever/Whenever moment in "A New Stage". After teased by his crew about cooking for them, a handwritten note slid under the door, inviting him to a private kitchen where a chef was waiting. Ingredients were prepped, the team gathered, and Kenny found himself crafting a scene that was entirely his own. "I finally wasn't playing someone else's story," he reflects. "I was being whoever I wanted to be. You had to be there."

"At W Hotels, every hotel is a stage for stories that could only happen here," says George Fleck, Senior Vice President and Global Brand Leader, W Hotels. "From New York to Dubai, Macau to Florence, and beyond, our locations have sparked the bold, unscripted moments that define us; those fun, unexpected experiences you can't wait to share with others. Hotel Tales is our playful way of capturing that spirit: the creativity, spontaneity, and expressive energy that have always been at the heart of W Hotels while highlighting our newest and transformed hotels worldwide."

Born from the social electricity of New York City, W Hotels has shaped the trajectory of luxury lifestyle hospitality since 1998. The continued expansion of Hotel Tales reflects the brand's global evolution, blending provocative design, passion-driven programming, and a liberated approach to luxury for a new generation of travelers.

The latest season of Hotel Tales has been rolling out across the brand's digital channels, including , , , and the brand's editorial platform, . Audiences can explore more than 70 W Hotels destinations worldwide at whotels.com, uncovering moments and stories that make viewers say, 'you just had to be there,' while crafting their own hotel tale worth saying, 'you just had to be there' for."

New stories are set to debut in 2026, inviting audiences everywhere to embrace the unexpected and to plan their next adventure – because "next time, be there."

 
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Phoenix, Arizona (December 15, 2025) –  announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Viral (Victor) Patel as Board Chairperson for 2026. With over 25 years of industry experience, Patel will bring invaluable insights to the role. The Board also elected Rajesh Patel as Vice-Chairperson and Santosh Khanjee as Secretary-Treasurer and welcomed Rebecca Driggs as a new Board Member.

 

“I am thrilled to announce Victor Patel as our new Board Chairperson,” said Larry Cuculic, President and CEO of BWH Hotels. “Victor is a trusted leader whose guidance will be critical as BWH Hotels embarks on a transformational year, enhancing the customer journey through digital innovation, refreshing our loyalty programs and equipping hoteliers to deliver unforgettable stays.”

 

At just 26 years old, Patel became the owner of the Best Western Corbin Inn in Corbin, Kentucky, a property which he still owns today. Under his stewardship, the hotel has earned several accolades, including the renowned Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award 10 times.

 

“I’m honored to serve as Board Chair of BWH Hotels,” said Patel. “Alongside our incredible leadership team and fellow Directors, I’m excited to help shape the future of our company—delivering hospitality that makes every guest feel truly welcome and creating lasting impact for our hoteliers and the communities we serve.”

Outside of his support for BWH Hotels, Patel has also served as Board Chairman for the Corbin Tourism & Convention Commission, was the first hotelier to chair the Kentucky Travel Industry Association and has served as an ambassador for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. He holds a degree in Psychology and Pre-Law from Penn State University and resides in London, Kentucky, with his wife, Sejal, and their two daughters. 

 

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