High-flying billionaire Richard Branson added Sin City to his Virgin Group portfolio following the acquisition of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas. The approximately 1,500-room off-Strip property will be rebranded to The Virgin Hotel Las Vegas and will remain open during renovations that are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, according to Virgin Group.

Sun-soaked SoCal is getting even brighter these days, as Long Beach continues to gleam with new offerings. From hip hotels and group venues to expanding attractions, the city is witnessing its most aggressive period of growth to date.

The recent news about a family of four from Iowa found dead in their condo in Tulum, Mexico, brought to light a little publicized risk lurking in every kind of lodging. Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning can happen within a matter of minutes and is responsible for more deaths than any other single poison.

Freeman named Bob Priest-Heck as its new CEO. Priest-Heck will be the company’s fourth CEO and the first in the company’s 90-year history to come from outside of the Freeman family.

Face-to-face meetings provide ROI, according to statistics from Oxford Economics and Maritz Global Travel.

Hilton has joined Marriott in cutting independent meeting planner commissions to 7 percent.

Travel industry leaders travel to Washington, D.C. to advocate for the industry as part of the annual Destination Capitol Hill program.

Hilton may follow Marriott in cutting independent planner commissions from 10% to 7% on October 1, 2018.

The newly constructed Hilton Des Moines Downtown opened its doors on March 21, 2018. The hotel is directly connected to the Iowa Events Center, which comprises a convention center and the Wells Fargo arena.

A new day is dawning for the embattled tourism promotion industry in Puerto Rico, as CVB veteran Brad Dean, who helmed the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce as CEO for 15 years, is set to take the reins of the newly created Puerto Rico Destination Marketing Organization (PRDMO).