Latest news: Expedia lowers outlook; Docent's growth; Nomura buys in Japan

Expedia reports softness in July. Expedia Group’s gross bookings and revenue for the second quarter both grew by 6% year over year — at the high end of the company’s expectations and eclipsing the increases for the first three months of the year. But new CEO Ariane Gorin added that there is softening in travel demand with a more challenging macro environment, which prompted the company to slightly lower its expectations for the rest of the year. Expedia cited more instances of consumers trading down to lower-priced properties and “continued softness” in air ticket prices, among other factors that drove weaker than expected growth across both consumer and B2B businesses in July. Because of that, the company expected gross bookings and revenue growth to fall between 3-5% for the third quarter.

Docent’s growth. Commonwealth Hotels and developer East Brown Cow are expanding its Docent’s Collection private and luxury loft collection in Portland, Maine, with new luxury units available in studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom options and equipped with a full kitchen and premier art collection. The new lofts were converted from class B vacant office space. This latest expansion comes off the heels of The Docent’s Collection’s rebrand from “121 Middle” in 2022. Slated for Spring 2025, The Docent’s Collection will add lofts in Portland constructed in two 19th century buildings.

Nomura buys in Japan. Tokyo-listed Nomura Real Estate Master Fund has agreed to acquire a Hokkaido hotel from Japanese builder Daiwa House Industry $43 million. The REIT sponsored by Nomura Real Estate Development is buying the 261-room La’gent Stay Hakodate Ekimae in Japan’s northernmost main island at a 26% discount to the independent appraisal value. The latest transaction comes amid heightened interest in Japanese hospitality assets with acquisitions having reached a record JPY 500 billion in 2023, surpassing the 2022 total by 240% and eclipsing the previous record set in 2019 by 4%, according to CBRE.