
Hong Kong Finds a New Calling After Liberation Day
Small, open economies get nervous when superpowers clash. Ironically, Hong Kong, whose status as a global financial hub has lost some shine over the years, is finding its feet again.
The city's latest calling in the middle of the US-China trade war? Provide financing for Chinese businesses that want to go global and become multinationals.
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Skift
37 minutes ago
- Skift
Capella's Break-Out Year: Four Openings, Two Brands, Cracking Luxury's Toughest Challenge
The Singapore-based hotel group expands its portfolio while expanding a second brand, demonstrating that growth and craft excellence aren't mutually exclusive. On Experience Colin Nagy is a marketing strategist and writes on customer-centric experiences and innovation across the luxury sector, hotels, aviation, and beyond. You can read all of his writing Colin Nagy is a marketing strategist and writes on customer-centric experiences and innovation across the luxury sector, hotels, aviation, and beyond. You can read all of his writing here Capella Hotels may be solving luxury hospitality's toughest equation: maintaining intimacy while scaling. The Singapore-based group is doubling its footprint in 2025, adding four properties across Asia while simultaneously developing Patina, their cultural-centric second brand, into urban markets. Rather than the blitzscaling approach of larger competitors, the expansion reads as craft-paced growth. Each new property targets underserved markets with distinct positioning, suggesting the group has found a sustainable way to grow without losing what makes them special. "Guests aren't collectors of luxury hotels, they're collectors of meaningful contexts," explains Cristiano Rinaldi, President of Capella, articulating a mindset that seems to be resonating with discerning travelers and addressing a key tension facing luxury hospitality. This intent is evident in Capella's newest properties. Capella Taipei, which opened in April as the city's first luxury hotel debut in several years, immediately filled a void in Taiwan's economic and cultural capital. The 86-key property, designed by Andre Fu, operates as a "modern mansion" with programming that includes calligraphy workshops and night-market expeditions through their "Capella Culturists" program. The execution feels sharp, and despite just opening, seems to be magnetic to the right crowd. During a recent visit, the hotel buzzed with a compelling mix of American tech executives, global business travelers, and affluent Taiwanese locals: a living moodboard that might have appeared in early concept drafts of the property. It felt inspired and different. Two-Brand Approach Similar intentionality appears across their 2025 openings: Capella Kyoto taps into strong interest in Japan's traditional heritage with an intimate 89-key property by Kengo Kuma & Associates, and perhaps most intriguingly, Capella is developing Patina as a parallel luxury brand targeting culturally curious travelers. Where Capella emphasizes heritage and craft, Patina positions itself as "pioneering transformative luxury" for guests seeking creative programming alongside high-touch service. Patina Osaka, their 221-key urban debut, showcases this through partnerships with local tastemakers like Verdy, the Japanese creative who styles for Blackpink and designs limited Nike editions. Verdy lives nearby in Osaka (and also runs a local pizza joint), and their collaborations evolved naturally over time, first at Patina Maldives, and then in his own backyard with the hotel's Listening Room by OJAS (aka Devon Turnbull) channels Japan's vinyl bar culture, while pop-up collaborations lend cultural cred that speak to next-gen luxury travelers. "With Patina, we're definitely not going to color within the lines," Rinaldi explains, describing an approach that allows for a bit of risk-taking while leveraging Capella's operational acumen. Rinaldi also says that some of the cultural dot connecting that Patina does well is also feeding into Capella's pipeline. By positioning Patina as "powered by Capella," they're creating a bit of space for both brands to develop distinct identities while sharing resources and expertise, and providing some necessary clarity to consumers. The group's most significant opportunity remains the United States, where Americans already account for nearly 30% of room nights across their Asian portfolio. Unlike competitors with established North American presence, Capella is building brand recognition through word-of-mouth, a slower but potentially more sustainable approach. The brand is also demonstrating operational execution. Their investment in general managers like Antonio Saponara (currently running Capella Bangkok after fine tuning Patina Maldives) ensures vision-based service that pulls through the front line staff, and the focus on genuine local partnerships, when done well, creates differentiation. Other brands find it hard to have the taste levels or the connections to truly make these feel real. Sydney's Capella (opened in 2023) has also become a gathering place for the international creative class rather than just another central business district hotel. Each property feels distinctly interesting with its own inherent energy. What Comes Next Capella's 2025 expansion represents luxury hospitality's most thoughtful scaling effort in recent memory. By combining disciplined growth with creative programming, they're demonstrating that a boutique and craft mindset and broader reach aren't incompatible, provided the execution remains meticulous. The two-brand strategy adds complexity and remains the biggest risk to watch, which will be interesting to follow. It takes a long time to introduce consumers to one brand, let alone two new ones. The real test comes in the next 18 months. Can Capella Kyoto maintain the cultural authenticity that defines the brand while opening in Japan's most tradition-conscious city? Will American travelers embrace Patina as a distinct experience, or will brand confusion occur? And perhaps most critically, can they secure that elusive U.S. foothold without compromising the patient, relationship-driven approach that got them here? If Capella succeeds on all fronts, they'll have cracked the code that has stymied luxury hospitality for decades. But it will be a strategic, marketing, and operational challenge that will take an unprecedented level of leadership cohesion. But early signs are promising.


Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Markets Saying Fed Rate Cut Premature: JPM's Herr
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Motor 1
an hour ago
- Motor 1
This Might Be Nissan's New Sedan Before You're Supposed to See It
Update: This story has been updated with more information regarding Nissan's EV concept in China. Nissan has a massive product onslaught planned over the next few years. Alongside the latest Kicks and the updated Murano SUVs, the Japanese automaker has a new Leaf coming to the US as early as next year. But if these patent filings are any indication, there could be even more products on the horizon—and soon. Nissan recently filed a patent with the World Intellectual Property Organization, as uncovered by Top Gear Philippines . The patent was filed in China on September 14 of last year and officially registered on May 9, 2025. It shows an updated Nissan sedan with the brand's latest design language. Nissan Patent Images Photo by: WIPO It's unclear whether these images show a new Sentra, Altima, Maxima, or something different entirely. The photos look nearly identical to the Evo concept from earlier last year, though they weren't officially filed until after that concept debuted. It could potentially be a production version of that vehicle. The patent also bears a similar resemblance to the Chinese Nissan N7 , but that sedan is larger and has more distinct cues. If this is a US-bound model, our best guess would be all-new Sentra or a revived Altima, which may be discontinued in the US after this year. The front fascia bears the automaker's new angular headlight treatment, which we've seen on the upcoming Leaf and a few of Nissan's previous concepts. The back end, meanwhile, has a slim light bar that encircles the trunk lid and stretches out to the rear bumper on either side. The profile almost makes it look like a fastback, which leads us to believe this is a mid-size sedan as opposed to a compact. We've seen spy photos of Nissan testing a sedan prototype in Michigan that looks nearly identical to the patent images pictured here. But even in those spy photos, it's difficult to tell if the car in question is the smaller Sentra or the mid-size Altima. Our spy photographers believe it could be the Sentra, but slightly larger than the current-generation model. Photo by: WIPO Photo by: WIPO In those spy photos, we also see an exhaust system, which means Nissan won't go full EV for its next sedan. Our best guess is a new hybrid system, potentially the turbocharged 1.5-liter hybrid unit from the plug-in-hybrid Frontier —which won't come to the US. That powertrain delivers 402 horsepower in the plug-in truck, but a detuned version of that could make sense in the smaller Sentra or Altima sedans. If this is indeed a new Sentra, don't expect to see a production version before 2027. The current model is still on sale in the US, and it likely won't change for 2026. With the Altima rumored to be discontinued after this year, we could see a new version of that sedan before the end of 2025. If we're lucky. Nissan's Recent Struggles The Last Five-Speed Manual Is Dead Nissan Might Sell Its Home to Survive: Report Source: World Intellectual Property Organization via Top Gear Philippines Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )