Hospitality & Leisure

RacketPro Becomes Coaching Education Partner for Life Time Pickleball

North Bethesda, Md. – September 18, 2026 -- RacketPro (RPO) has been named the strategic coaching education provider for Life Time Pickleball (NYSE: LTH), giving coaches across the company's national club network access to RPO's Level 1–3 certification pathway.

Life Time operates more than 900 pickleball courts across 152 clubs nationwide

Over the past two years, Life Time has built one of the largest pickleball court networks in the United States, with over 900 permanent indoor and outdoor courts at 152 locations. The RPO partnership extends that infrastructure investment to coaching quality, standardizing training across all Life Time facilities offering pickleball.

Wings Air Helicopters Tapped for Resorts World NYC-Catskills VIP Route

White Plains, N.Y. – September 18, 2026 -- Wings Air Helicopters has been selected to operate VIP helicopter transportation connecting Resorts World New York City at JFK and Resorts World Catskills, cutting a multi-hour ground trip to a 45-minute flight.

Seasonal service extended after summer launch

The program began as a seasonal summer offering and has since been extended, according to the companies. Wings Air Helicopters, an FAA-certified air carrier with nearly 25 years of operating history, runs the chartered flights from strategically located heliports in the New York area using its Airbus AS350 and AS355 helicopter fleet.

Hotel Veteran Rauch Publishes Book on $1B Industry Career

San Diego – September 18, 2026 -- Hospitality consultant Robert A. Rauch, CHA, has released "The Hotel Guru's Journey: A Guide to Excellence in the Hotel Industry," a 20-chapter operational guide drawn from more than 50 years in hotel management and over $1 billion in developed and managed hotel assets.

Rauch's career spans dishwasher to developer across major brands

Rauch began his career as a banquet dishwasher in 1974 and progressed through roles as server, restaurant manager, sales manager, food and beverage director, general manager, owner, developer, and consultant. He served as founding chairman of R.A. Rauch & Associates and RAR Hospitality, managing hotel assets under Hilton, Marriott, and Choice Hotels, as well as independent boutique properties.

Carnival Corporation Sets Sept. 29 Call for Q3 Earnings Release

Miami – – September 18, 2026 -- Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) will host a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at 10 a.m. EDT to discuss third-quarter financial results.

Carnival confirms earnings release date ahead of investor call

The world's largest cruise operator confirmed the third-quarter results are expected to be released the morning of the call. A simulcast will be available through the company's website for analysts and investors tracking performance across its eight cruise-line brands, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises, and Seabourn.

Luxury Estates Unifies Two California Properties on One Booking Site

Beverly Hills – September 18, 2026 -- Luxury Estates has launched a single website, www.luxuryestates.net, combining bookings for its two distinct California properties for the first time: Mirabella Estate, a 10-acre overnight compound in Indio, and Marmar Estate, a 1.5-acre Beverly Hills venue restricted to exterior events and production work.

New site separates overnight stays from event and film bookings

The two properties, roughly 100 miles apart, serve different markets and the new platform is structured to prevent confusion between them. Each estate has its own gallery, section and inquiry form, with a side-by-side comparison covering location, acreage, overnight capacity, event capacity and availability.

Inn at Perry Cabin Names Kurt Berman General Manager

St. Michaels, Md. – September 18, 2026 -- Inn at Perry Cabin, the 78-room waterfront resort on Maryland's Eastern Shore, has appointed Kurt Berman as General Manager, bringing nearly three decades of luxury hospitality leadership across four continents to the property.

Berman brings resort leadership from Iceland, Thailand, the Maldives and beyond

Berman joins from Eleven Deplar Farm in Iceland, an exclusive adventure lodge, and previously held roles as Vice President of Hospitality at Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah and Chief Executive Officer of Ropeswing Hospitality Group in Bentonville, Arkansas. His career also includes leadership positions at Samujana in Thailand, Six Senses in the Maldives, Frégate Island Private in the Seychelles, and Rosewood properties in the Caribbean.

UrVenue Opens Las Vegas HQ to Showcase Non-Gaming Revenue Tech

Las Vegas – September 18, 2026 -- UrVenue will open its new Las Vegas Strip headquarters on Sept. 30 to demonstrate technology aimed at driving non-gaming revenue for resort and casino operators, coinciding with an industry event expected to draw 25,000 gaming and hospitality executives to the city.

UrVenue hosts an Open House at its new Grand Canal Shoppes office from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event takes place at The Venetian Resort's Palazzo side, Level 2M, above the Waterfall Atrium. Attendees can book personally guided, 30-minute sessions in advance, with additional visits available outside Open House hours by contacting UrVenue directly.

Sabre Data: 27% of Travel Firms Accelerate AI Spend Despite Uncertainty

Southlake, Texas – September 18, 2026 -- Travel companies are accelerating rather than retreating from AI investment despite persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty, according to new research from Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR). Just 17% of executives surveyed are curbing modernization spend, while 27% are accelerating AI investment and 41% are protecting their existing technology roadmaps.

Sabre's Compass report blends survey data with Cantor Fitzgerald macro analysis

The findings come from "Compass: Navigating the Fog," a Sabre report combining independent macroeconomic analysis from Cantor Fitzgerald with a proprietary survey of more than 140 airline, agency and hotel executives conducted in June 2026. Sabre characterizes the industry posture as "protection mode": long-term AI roadmaps remain intact while near-term spending shifts toward initiatives with faster returns.

Kindred Hits 500,000 Nights Swapped as Home-Swap Model Scales

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Kindred, the global home-swapping platform, has surpassed 500,000 nights swapped since launching in 2022, a threshold the company says confirms peer-to-peer home exchange has moved beyond niche travel behavior.

Kindred now counts 400,000-plus members across 150-plus cities

The platform reports a member satisfaction score above 9 out of 10 sustained through its recent growth phase. More than 90% of listed homes are members' primary residences rather than investment properties, distinguishing Kindred's model from short-term rental marketplaces and keeping that inventory outside the STR market.

Lightspeed Launches On Deck Tool to Auto-Fill Cancelled Tee Times

Montréal – September 18, 2026 -- Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD) has launched On Deck, a new feature within its Lightspeed Golf booking platform that automatically matches golfers to newly available tee times freed up by cancellations or rescheduling.

Golfers can now flag preferred time windows for automated matching

Through the Lightspeed Golf booking experience, golfers set up an On Deck request for a preferred tee time or window. When a matching slot opens due to a cancellation or change by the original booker, the system sends an automated email offering the opportunity to book it, removing the need for manual, repeated checking.