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☆ Gen Z is all about 'real moments' when traveling - and that means hotels are pushing to reinvent themselves fast
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Two Gen Z travelers tell Insider they're willing to pay up for an authentic experience that also feels luxurious. One hospitality expert says technology and convenience should be at the forefront of hoteliers' minds when targeting Gen Z guests. "When it comes to traveling, Gen Z prioritizes authenticity and living in the moment," said Sharon Silverstein, the head of US verticals at Snapchat parent company Snap. "(Gen Z wants) to feel like they're doing something – that they're relevant — because they're living at home and can't afford to live otherwise. So Gen Z spends its money on experiences, but they want those experiences to be educational and have values that support their beliefs," Dawson Sheehan said.

☆ The Hotel Cabanas That Cost More Than Most Rooms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The priciest item on your next hotel bill might not be the room but a posh slice of poolside shade and privacy. Cabanas, those curtained-off retreats with TVs, padded lounge chairs, couches, trendy sunscreen and other perks, are fetching eye-popping prices as the travel boom stokes demand. Vacationers are shelling out for them, hoteliers say, often because they are still splurging on all things travel to make up for getaways put off in recent years.

☆ Gondolas left stranded as Venice's canals run dry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Claudio Lavanga | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Gondolas are pictured in the Grand Canal during a severe low tide in the lagoon city of Venice, Italy, March 17, 2022. "I have been a gondolier for 28 years, and I have never seen so many low tides at once," he added. "Low water levels in Venice are unheard of, especially at this time of the year," said Giovanni Cecconi, the president of the Venice Resilience Lab. "During low tides we could use the barriers to stop the water from getting out of the lagoon," he said. However, Claudio Scarpa, the director general of the Venetian Hoteliers Association, said the low tides did bring some benefits.

☆ Hotels in St Petersburg told to offer noodle stations as part of Russia's plan to lure more Chinese tourists
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is trying to lure more Chinese visitors to support its struggling tourism industry. They want to attract more tourists from China by encouraging hotels to provide traditional cuisine and offer things like noodle stations at breakfast. The first post-pandemic Chinese tour group is expected to arrive in St Petersburg from Guangzhou on February 25, per TASS. Chinese tourists were big pre-pandemic business for St Petersburg. In 2019, there were 957,000 Chinese visitors to the city, accounting for 9.2% of the total, according to data from its tourism development committee, cited by TASS.

Hotel owners are lamenting a drop-off in corporate travel during the pandemic as finance, tech and other professionals spend less time on the road. But hoteliers are cheering the boom in travel by blue-collar workers. Construction crews, travel nurses, truckers and sales teams from small and medium-size businesses have packed hotels for much of the past three years.

☆ Wanted: Two lighthouse keepers for tiny island in San Francisco Bay. Must have 'high-quality culinary experience' and a captain's license.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two custodians for a historic lighthouse and hotel in San Francisco Bay are being recruited. The East Brother Light Station is looking for two people to become lighthouse keepers for two years on the tiny island just off Point San Pablo in Richmond. Former innkeepers Tiffany Danse (left) and Tyler Waterson (right). Run boat service to the mainland. Run boat service to the mainland again," the Chronicle wrote.

☆ EU court rules Airbnb must provide rental info to tax authorities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Short-term accommodation services company Airbnb (ABNB.O) must provide information in rental contracts to tax authorities and withhold tax under a national regime, the European Union's top court ruled on Thursday. The Italian court subsequently sought guidance from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). "EU law does not preclude the requirement to collect information or to withhold tax under a national tax regime," the EU court said in a statement. But an Airbnb spokesperson said the company was already supporting the correct payment of host income tax by implementing the EU's agreed common tax reporting framework. "We will continue to make progress on the EU's bloc-wide approach to income tax reporting while we await the final decision of the Italian court," the Airbnb spokesperson said.

While travel demand is roaring back, many hotels, airlines, cruise operators and airports are still racing to hire and train workers. That means the level of customer service will likely take a hit, industry experts say. One potential bright spot can be found at sea: During the summer, several cruise lines had to cancel voyages due to staffing shortages, but major disruptions have been largely resolved. “It’s highly unlikely your holiday cruise will be canceled due to lack of staffing,” said Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, a Tripadvisor-run travel site. “This year, I moved my annual holiday travel to earlier in December,” said Abby Rhinehart, an educational researcher in Tucson, Arizona.

☆ Reality ends some Qatari dreams of World Cup rental bonanza
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Andrew Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"We were in contact with half of the city, all the big real estate companies ... A week before the World Cup began on Nov. 20, the rate was $250 a night, the broker said. Eleven days before kick-off, organisers had said there were at least 25,000 rooms available for every night of the World Cup. "Never ever, at no World Cup, have I heard anything like this," said Bauer of the last-minute charges. His Khaya agency has block-booked accommodation and sold rooms to fans, FIFA sponsors and other officials at three previous World Cups.

☆ Spanish short-term rentals boom has tourist sector clamouring for rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Spanish travel industry association Exceltur said that about 300,000 homes are offered for short-term rental in the country's 20 largest cities, with some 389,779 rooms managed by hotels. Exceltur, which groups together major Spanish hotel chains, travel agents, tour operators and airlines, is lobbying for a new law to regulate short-term rental platforms such as such as Airbnb, describing the situation as "out of control". Renting to tourists is twice as profitable as offering long-term rentals to residents, the Exceltur study showed. In Spain, short-term rentals are also cheaper, on average, than hotels. These include forcing platforms to verify that individual hosts are properly registered as tourist accommodation providers, with official permission to operate.

☆ The Hoteliers Bringing New Life to Stately Old Resorts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Jay Cheshes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The Soniat House hotel in New Orleans, one of the properties Ken Fulk and Clark Lyda have taken over with their company InHouse. In 1903 turpentine magnate Robert Paterson and his wife, Marie Louise Paterson, moved into a new mansion in the Berkshires filled with art and antiques, on 130 wooded acres on the edge of Lenox, Massachusetts. They named their stately pile Blantyre, after a village in Scotland, Robert’s native country. Following Robert’s 1917 death, the palatial spread changed hands many times, passing in and out of bankruptcy as it became a country club, before emerging in the 1980s as a genteel resort famous for its encyclopedic wine cellar and ambitious white-tablecloth cooking. Though renovations over the years sapped some of the time-capsule splendor of the Paterson home, the historic bones of the building were still largely intact when designer Ken Fulk and property developer Clark Lyda purchased the hotel last year.

☆ This Y Combinator-backed startup wants to transform how hotels manage guests. Check out the 21-slide pitch deck Canary Technologies used to raise $30 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Canary Technologies has raised $30 million to overhaul the way hotels manage guests digitally. The startup's platform is used by global brands such as Radisson Hotels and Best Western. Check out the 21-slide pitch deck it used to raise the Series B round below. The startup's tech is used by brands such as Radisson Hotels, Best Western, and Four Seasons. Check out the 21-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds below:

☆ 'Deadly drop': Hotel housekeeper faces avalanche of laundry showing desperate hotel labor shortage in viral TikTok posts
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-21 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One housekeeper uses TikTok to show how much laundry she must fold in an 8-plus hour shift. Zeiber's TikTok videos showing what she calls "deadly drops" from a linen chute into the hotel's laundry room, have gone viral, shocking viewers. In the comments section of her account, Zeiber clarified that she is not the only housekeeper at the hotel, but she's the only person responsible for laundry. Sometimes her workdays last beyond eight hours and include more than just laundry, according to Zeiber. Kasea Zeiber is the only housekeeper responsible for folding laundry in an 126-room hotel in the Pittsburgh area.

☆ Europe's top hotel chain is hiring workers without experience or even résumés because it's so desperate for staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-05 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The CEO of Accor, Europe's top hotel chain, said he's hiring workers without experience or résumés. Sebastien Bazin said some Accor hotels were limiting restaurant hours because of staff shortages. Hospitality workers have been quitting their jobs over wages, benefits, and working conditions. It means some hotels have been forced to widen their candidate pools — with Accor, Europe's largest hotel chain, turning to workers without experience or even résumés. Some days, Accor hotels have been forced to stop serving lunch or even completely close their restaurants because they don't have enough staff, Bazin said.

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