Dear Insider,

It's only May and M&A momentum is picking up. But Big is only buying Small. Big or not though, the prices are considerable, which eases the pain of the small. Marriott's current acquisition of citizenM and the IHG/Ruby deal tell us something else: The chain giants are buying lifestyle brands because they themselves have become old, immobile and boring over the decades. Now, everyone is rushing into lifestyle to secure demand and a foothold in the market. Accor hit on this trend early on and sailed away from the other chains around the year 2000 with the purchase of Hoxton and the founding of Ennismore.

The powerful First Lady of the US hotel world has adopted a very self-confident franchise granddaughter who comes from these free-thinking lowlands (the Netherlands), loves to think outside the box and break standards. High heels meets sneakers. It remains exciting - and reminds me of the difficult and emotionally charged integration of the completely different thinking Design Hotels into the Marriott Group. Sarah Douag raises many other questions about this deal in her Marriott/citizenM article.

Another question for senior executives today: Is your (variable) salary already linked to incentives if you meet the ESG targets? In Europe, almost all companies have switched to the new model; Japan is a positive role model.

Next question: How do you track CO2 in the hotels? How do you offset the emissions? Prof. Dr. Willy Legrand starts a three-part mini-series on "Offsetting" with us today. He is an absolute sustainability expert, bursting with knowledge which he loves to share (which is why we have also hired him as a moderator for our Think Tank). And he has the gift of communicating this complex topic in simple language. You don't even realise that you've just read six pages.

A lot has happened this week: Sabre has sold its hospitality unit to the asset management company TPG (which once owned A&O). It simply needed money to reduce its debts. From what I've heard from Sabre insiders, it was still not an easy decision.

Another lawsuit launched by Spain and France against Booking.com also concerns all things digital. And the USA wants to break up Google and punish Meta like Apple.

AccorInvest is now called Essendi. Say it out loud and your lips will curl into a smile. That was the core message of the event on Monday, at which Europe's largest owner-operator connected hundreds of guests in Paris, London, Munich and Warsaw via video link. CEO Gilles Clavies unfortunately only spoke about marketing and philisophy, but not facts and figures. A pity. The nominal separation from Accor is the next step before the sale of the company.

Wyndham, on the other hand, closed a deal: With an exclusive partner and the Super 8 brand, the road now leads to Spain and Portugal. All chains will continue to expand, as can be seen from the annual or quarterly balance sheets of Wyndham, Accor, Hilton, Pandox, Motel One and the Global Hotel Alliance (all six balance sheets on our page 1). And there are more hotel projects in the News Mix; this pool of information never dries up.

Our public news today is about tourists who are afraid of tourism and smart people who want to save the locals in overtourism cities. Europeans are happy to travel longer, dig deeper into their pockets and go further afield this year. There are now over a million motorhomes on Germany's roads. If you are staying in a Swiss hotel and a strange dog sniffs at your bed, please be careful: He is looking for bedbugs.

This edition is colourful and international, and our HITT Think Tank is also becoming increasingly international. Our participants and 20 (!) experts now come from 14 countries. This week, we have gained the last source of inspiration - from Mallorca. The program is now fixed, and the lively briefings promise passionate discussions in just under four weeks. We would like to take this opportunity to expressly thank our sponsors Accor, Wyndham, Arabella Hospitality, Häfele, Expo Real and Hotelschool The Hague - who are supporting us with just as much passion! Register here!

HOT - Hotels Tomorrow in Paris is still in full flow (30 June/1 July). In view of the dynamics in the market, which we also describe in our magazine today, we are constantly adapting the topics behind the scenes. Check the website regularly, register there and follow hotelstomorrow on LinkedIn. The prices remain down-to-earth, even for sponsors. HospitalityInside subscribers and HITT participants receive discounts. The HOT title remains hot: "Europe - The Region of Risks & Rewards. Breaking the Rules of Tradition." This sums up the current situation.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief