From plant-based foods to a return to tradition, 20 chefs talk about the year’s top trends. (Forbes)

Accor Hotels is the latest global hotel chain to eliminate travel-sized toiletries as part of its broader environmental campaign that includes nixing all single-use plastics at its 5,000 properties. (CNN)

As Australia and Puerto Rico cope with bushfires and the aftermath of a series of earthquakes, there are opportunities for the events industry to come to their aid, says PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat. (pcma)

Emerging platforms that allow the instant booking of meeting space are growing, and hotel chains are finally buying into a future where time-intensive RFPs are no longer necessary. (Skift)

Regulators want time to work out how to prevent abuse of the technology, though exceptions to the ban could be made for security projects as well as research and development. (BBC)

China has become a hot spot for global business travel, and its secondary cities are evolving to accommodate larger conferences and conventions. What should event planners know? (Skift)

Hilton Hotels & Resorts opened a record number of luxury hotels last year and has 30 more in the pipeline, including the long-awaited renovation of New York's iconic Waldorf Astoria. (Travel Weekly)

Building an authentic brand identity is a complicated process for destinations. Here’s how a handful of CVBs have tackled the issue — and how organizers have meaningfully hitched their events’ theming to those brands. (pcma)

Facial recognition has been added to the Global Entry program at 15 airports in the U.S. and overseas, allowing international travelers to navigate re-entry at a much faster pace. (TravelPulse)

The editors of Convene looked back over 2019, asking this question: What’s one meeting and event trend on my radar in 2020? (pcma)