The heart of Ontario’s hospitality industry beats stronger thanks to the passion, leadership, and dedication of remarkable individuals — and today, we are proud to celebrate them.

We are thrilled to announce the 2025 OHI Hall of Fame inductees — a distinguished group of leaders whose lifelong contributions have left a powerful legacy across Ontario’s hospitality sector. These trailblazers have not only inspired those around them but have helped elevate the entire industry through their commitment, innovation, and impact.

The OHI Hall of Fame is one of the highest honours presented by OHI: We Are Hospitality, a long-standing tradition that recognizes excellence and leadership across all corners of our industry. In collaboration with the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) — the largest provincial hospitality association in Canada — this award represents the best of what our industry stands for: service, strength, and community.

2025 Hall of Fame Award Winners:

Inductees are selected through a province-wide nominations process and evaluated by the ORHMA and OHI Nominations Committee — ensuring only the most deserving are honoured with this lifetime achievement. Help us celebrate these industry icons! We invite ORHMA members and hospitality professionals across Ontario to send a personal message of congratulations to this year’s honourees — a meaningful way to acknowledge their impact.

Join us at OHC2025 to celebrate OHI's Hall of Fame Winners!

The awards will be presented to inductees at the e, Opening Reception on October 20, 2025, at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North.

For further information visit the Ontario Hospitality Conference

Lodging Econometrics’ (LE’s) Q2 2025 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report states that the total pipeline ascended to a record-high 15,871 projects with 2,436,225 rooms, up 3% by projects and 2% by rooms year-over-year (YOY).

Worldwide, at the close of the second quarter, there are 6,257 projects/1,086,245 rooms under construction, unchanged on a percentage basis by projects and down 3% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months decreased 3% YOY by projects but increased 1% by rooms to stand at 3,870 projects/551,188 rooms at the close of the quarter. Projects in the early planning stage reached a record-high 5,744 projects with 798,792 rooms, marking a 10% increase in projects and a 9% increase in rooms, YOY.

Accounting for 52% of the projects in the total pipeline, the upper midscale and upscale chain scales dominate the global hotel construction pipeline project counts at Q2. Of that 52%, upper midscale hotel projects comprise 4,463 projects and 567,396 rooms in the total global pipeline, unchanged on a percentage basis by projects and down 1% by rooms YOY. Upscale projects and rooms achieved record-highs at Q2, with 3,852 projects and 655,674 rooms, up 5% by projects and 3% by rooms YOY. Notably, at Q2, upper upscale projects reached a record-high 1,807 projects with 385,396 rooms, up 6% by projects and 1% by rooms YOY. Luxury projects and rooms totals also reached record-high counts at Q2; an 11% YOY increase in projects and a 9% YOY increase in rooms, to stand at 1,267 projects/245,665 rooms.

At Q2, the top countries by project count are the United States, with 6,280 projects and 737,036 rooms, and China, with 3,733 projects and 672,224 rooms. The U.S. accounts for 40% of the projects in the global pipeline, while China accounts for 24%, resulting in 64% of the global pipeline being concentrated within these two countries. Following closely are India, with a record-high count of 761 projects and 99,195 rooms, Saudi Arabia with 342 projects and 92,187 rooms, and Canada with 333 projects and 44,764 rooms.

Around the world, the cities with the largest pipelines by total projects in the pipeline are Dallas, Texas, with 199 projects and a record-high 24,497 rooms, Atlanta, Georgia, with 165 projects with 19,027 rooms, and Chengdu, China, with 143 projects/25,331 rooms. Nashville, Tennessee, follows with 128 projects/17,025 rooms, and then Austin, Texas, reaching record-highs of 125 projects and 14,598 rooms.

The first half of 2025 saw 970 new hotels/138,168 rooms open around the world with an additional 1,884 new hotels/280,079 rooms scheduled to open by year-end. LE analysts forecast a total of 2,854 new hotels with 418,247 rooms to open in 2025. With the global pipeline projects at an all-time high, LE forecasts that new hotel openings will continue with 2,531 new hotels/382,942 rooms expected to open by year-end 2026. And, announcing for the first time, LE analysts forecast 2,554 new hotels/382,282 rooms to open worldwide by year-end 2027.

ARLINGTON, Va. – 20 August 2025 – Canada’s hotel industry reported its highest occupancy level since August 2019, according to July 2025 data from CoStar, a leading global provider of commercial real estate information, analytics, and online property marketplaces.

July 2025 (percentage change from 2024):

• Occupancy: 77.6% (+3.0%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): CAD248.50 (+5.3%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD192.75 (+8.5%)

The year-over-year growth rates across each of the three key performance metrics were Canada’s highest this year.

Among the provinces and territories, Manitoba posted the highest increases in each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (+14.8% to 80.9%), ADR (+14.5% to CAD180.01) and RevPAR (+31.5% to CAD145.71).

Quebec was the only province to show a decline in occupancy (-1.2% to 75.7%). All of the provinces/territories saw an increase in ADR and RevPAR.

Among the major markets, Ottawa-Gatineau saw the largest occupancy gain (+6.5% to 74.4%).

Toronto will host several major events in August and September, which are driving increased occupancy on the books. Booking levels are as high as 75.1% and 68.4% for the Oasis shows approaching on 24 and 25 August, respectively. Those levels are up over 20% compared to the same time last year.

The Toronto International Film Festival, which attracted 700k guests last year, is also impacting bookings, which are up nearly 20% compared to last year on the first two nights of the event (4-5 September).

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.costargroup.com.

July 2025 - In the context of actioning one of its 12 commitments to sustainability, “In Harmony With All Life On Earth”, endorsed by UNESCO, Relais & Châteaux is calling on the chefs of its 580 properties to remove threatened seafood species from their menus. In its mission to contribute to the protection and development of biodiversity, the Association of independent hotels and restaurants has pledged to contribute to the regeneration and development of marine ecosystems.

“At Relais & Châteaux, we believe that the future of hospitality and gastronomy goes together with protecting biodiversity. This collective initiative to remove threatened marine species from our menus reflects our responsibility as the biggest network of gastronomic restaurants in the world to inspire meaningful change. " Said Laurent Gardinier, President of Relais & Châteaux.

In this year’s efforts, Relais & Châteaux is continuing its actions to protect endangered species by inviting chefs to remove at least one threatened species from their menus, depending on the state of stocks in different regions of the world where the association

operates: North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania. The members who participate commit to doing so until the stock of the species removed has returned to a healthy level. The 18 species have been selected together with Ethic Ocean, due to their popular local consumption and because their wild stocks are threatened in the region. Under the Association’s radar in North America and Oceania are Blue swimming crab in the Indo-Pacific region (Portunus pelagicus) and Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus).

Mauro Colagreco, Vice President, Chefs of Relais & Châteaux said, “As chefs, we hold immense responsibility. Every menu shapes habits, influences markets and contributes to defining the future of our oceans. What we refuse to serve is as important as what we choose to highlight: it guides suppliers, influences desirability and therefore inspires change. Let’s all listen to the ocean before it falls silent.”

Relais & Châteaux has endeavored to pursue its mission to contribute to the protection of marine biodiversity since 2009, when the association signed the Ethic Ocean charter. At that time, Relais & Châteaux chefs agreed to remove North-East Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) from their menus. Thanks to this mobilization, the Association participated to a collective effort to save the population of bluefin tuna from collapse in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. This species was indeed subject to intense overfishing (including illegal fishing) in the early 1990s, which continued for over 15 years. Thanks to management measures implemented starting in 2007, the status of the Eastern stock has improved since 2010; the stock is now considered not overfished. (ICCAT 2022 and Ifremer 2024). In the same spirit, in 2023, the Association launched an “SOS for Biodiversity” and invited its members to stop serving various eel species. In total, 84% of members have declared to not serve eel, with 34% having removed it from their menu following the call to action of the Association.

“By verifying the sustainability of the species they serve – by checking information such as the scientific name, origin, fishing and farming methods – we hope that Relais & Châteaux chefs can influence not only consumers but also their own suppliers and producers – whether fishers or aquaculture farmers – so that all stakeholders in the supply chain become truly aware of the role they can play in the sustainable management of marine resources. We all have a role to play.” said Gilles Boeuf, President, Ethic Ocean.