Hospitality & Leisure

London – September 22, 2026 -- accesso Technology Group plc (AIM: ACSO) has introduced agentic AI capabilities within its accesso Intelligence platform, allowing visitor attraction operators to convert conversational queries into automated, recurring analytical workflows.

New agentic tools automate monitoring, forecasting and reporting across attraction operations

The update adds three connected capabilities: agentic skills for multi-step performance monitoring and issue detection; agentic automations that schedule or trigger analyses and result distribution; and agentic reporting and forecasting that builds custom, adaptive reports rather than static daily outputs.

Dallas – September 21, 2026 -- AI Hospitality Group (AIHG) launched with $7.5 million in seed funding and a pledge to deliver more than 500 basis points of gross operating profit margin improvement to hotel owners through a fully AI-native management model. The company, founded by former Remington Hospitality CEO Sloan Dean, signs hotel management agreements directly with owners and takes responsibility for the P&L rather than licensing software to existing operators.

Hotel EBITDA margins have eroded to 20% from roughly 30% over the past decade

AIHG says U.S. hotel EBITDA margins have fallen approximately 20% since 2019, while CMBS delinquency rates for limited-service hotels hit 8.35% in July 2025, more than double their 2022 low. The company cites 65% of North American hotels reporting staffing shortages in 2025, with labor costs rising 11.2% year over year.

Seattle – September 21, 2026 -- Sudheer Koneru, CEO and founder of Zenoti, unveiled a new book, Growth Diaries: How the Best Beauty and Wellness Brands Scale from 1 Store to 100+, drawing on interviews with 42 founders, CEOs, and industry leaders across nine countries.

Book maps four growth phases for multi-unit beauty and wellness operators

Growth Diaries organizes the operators' experiences into four stages: the first store, the early chain, infrastructure, and institutional scale, providing a stage-by-stage framework for founders scaling service-based businesses. The book argues that beauty, wellness, and fitness brands face distinct scaling challenges compared to software, retail, or restaurant companies, since services are delivered live and an unfilled appointment cannot be recovered as revenue later.

Las Vegas – September 21, 2026 -- IGT will install Jamie Knight as Chief Studios Officer on Jan. 1, 2027, succeeding Jean Venneman, who retires Dec. 31, 2026, after more than three decades in the gaming industry.

Venneman rebuilt IGT's global studio operations into a 1,200-employee organization

Venneman began her career at IGT in the early 1990s, held senior roles across product development, licensing, technology and operations, and rejoined the company in 2024 to rebuild its global studio function from the ground up. Under her leadership, IGT assembled a studio team exceeding 1,200 employees and standardized best practices across studio cultures, work the company says now positions IGT and Everi for accelerated growth.

Las Vegas – September 21, 2026 -- IGT and Everi will present a combined portfolio of slot games, casino management systems and FinTech products at the 2026 Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, running Sept. 28 through Oct. 1, at booth 4455.

New titles debut on RISE32 and RISE55 cabinets

IGT will launch Lightning Rails and Split 'N' Win Link Boost on its RISE32 cabinet, both offering player-selectable denomination configurations. The RISE55 cabinet will host premium evolutions Money Gong Divine and Tiger and Dragon Power Sphere, alongside Piggz Link base games Frankenswine and Prince of Porkness, and Triple Coin Link themes Grand Buddha and Grand Cat.

Bratislava – September 21, 2026 -- EXPO 2027 Belgrade brought its "Visit Serbia" roadshow to Bratislava, convening Serbian and Slovak travel and business representatives to forge partnerships ahead of the Western Balkans' first Specialised Expo, scheduled for 15 May to 15 August 2027 under the theme "Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All."

More than 135 countries confirm participation in Belgrade Expo

Organizers expect several million visits over the 93-day event, with over 135 countries having already confirmed participation.

Slovakia becomes first country to sign Expo participation contract

"Slovakia was the first country to sign the Participation Contract for EXPO 2027 Belgrade, reflecting the strong ties between our business communities," said Igor Kovačević, Executive Director of EXPO 2027 Belgrade, who invited Slovak travel professionals to develop itineraries and visit Serbia directly.

Singapore – September 21, 2026 -- Seoul has emerged as the top overseas holiday destination worldwide for this year's Golden Week, recording a 91% year-on-year jump in international flight bookings, according to new data from Trip.com Group. Chinese travellers are combining Golden Week with the Mid-Autumn Festival into a 13-day break by taking three additional days off, with outbound departures expected to spike as early as September 25 and average trip lengths exceeding nine days.

Chinese Outbound Departures Shift Earlier to Avoid Holiday Rush

More than half of outbound flight bookings this season are for departures before the official holiday begins on October 1, with daily volume peaking on September 25 and 30. The shift comes as Mid-Autumn Festival lands the Friday before the October holidays, prompting travellers to front-load their trips.

Southlake, Texas – September 20, 2026 -- Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) has moved nearly 80 customers into piloting or full production on its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a year after launching the technology that lets AI agents book, sell and service travel directly on the company's data and inventory.

Sabre launched its MCP server in September 2025, a full year ahead of rivals now announcing similar agentic AI plans

The server acts as a connective layer allowing AI agents to transact directly against Sabre's travel data and inventory. Clients using the technology include Virgin Australia, Flight Centre, and Internova — spanning its Global Travel Collection, Nexion, ALTOUR and Travel Leaders Network brands — with the company citing real bookings and cost savings already realized.

Shanghai – September 20, 2026 -- Hotel & Shop Plus Shanghai 2027 will span 210,000 square meters and host more than 2,000 brands, positioning it as one of Asia's largest trade platforms for the hotel, retail, office and public-space sectors. The event, organized by Sinoexpo Informa Markets, is scheduled for March 30-April 2, 2027, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre and is projected to draw over 130,000 professional visitors.

Las Vegas – September 20, 2026 -- Circa Resort & Casino and Circa Sports have signed a multi-year deal to become the first Founding Partner of the Las Vegas Athletics, securing designation as the Official Resort and Sportsbook of the MLB club ahead of its new ballpark opening in 2028.

Circa becomes the A's first Founding Partner as the club builds its Las Vegas footprint

The agreement names Circa and Circa Sports as an Official Resort and Sportsbook of both the Athletics and the future Las Vegas Athletics Ballpark. Marc Badain, president of the Athletics, said the partnership builds on Circa's prior support of the club during its time in West Sacramento and marks a step toward a distinctly Las Vegas fan experience.