The Emirates Culinary Guild announces third Virtual Cooking Competition

The Emirates Culinary Guild and USA Poultry and Egg Export Council are launching a Virtual Cooking Competition for GCC Nationals. The competition has launched and registration will be open until September 2, midnight. 

In the competition, there will be four different categories where US Chicken and Turkey will be used. Competitors will create either a video or their favorite recipe and photo of the dish using the ingredients and are encouraged to produce their country’s traditional eats.

For More Information Click Below :

www.hotelnewsme.com/news/the-emirates-culinary-guild-announces-third-virtual-cooking-competition/

Carole Ackermann, new President at EHL Holding SA

Dr. Carole Ackermann will succeed EHL Holding SA from 22 June 2020 as President of the Board of Directors and President-Elect of the Board of Governors. Having 20 years of management experience on the boards of SMEs and large companies.

For More Details Click Below :

hospitality-on.com/en/appointments/appointment-carole-ackermann-new-president-ehl-holding-sa

King to lead Marriott in Caribbean and Latin America

Marriott International has announced that long-time company executive Brian King has been appointed president of the Caribbean and Latin America region.

King will take on his new role in January 2021 and will report to Craig Smith, who will assume the role of group president, international at that time. King succeeds Tim Sheldon, who recently announced his retirement.

For More Information Click Below :

www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/king-to-lead-marriott-in-caribbean-and-latin-america/

Marriott opens all hotels in China, sees steady US recovery

Marriott International has reopened all its hotels in China and is seeing a steady recovery in the United States, its biggest market, Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson said

In the United States, Marriott's hotels that remained open crossed the 20 percent occupancy threshold and continue to see an improvement

Coronavirus claims 215,734 hotel-supported jobs in New York

Key Take Away

Coronavirus-related losses of jobs supported by the hotel industry in New York numbered 215,734 out of a total of 528,618 hotel-supported jobs, according to a hotel industry estimate.

Californi, Florida, Nevada, and Texas are expected to be the states hardest hit by losses of jobs 

Nationwide, 44 percent of hotel workers were projected to lose their jobs in the coming weeks due to the pandemic, which has led to a dramatic drop in hotel occupancy. 

For More Information

www.thecentersquare.com/new_york/coronavirus-claims-215-734-hotel-supported-jobs-in-new-york/article_a172c162-9ab4-11ea-847f-cbcacc9ffe39.html

National Restaurant Association of India seeks rental waiver of malls

Key Take Away

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has expressed two concerns to mall owners — waiver of charges of rentals and a revised revenue-sharing model, and sought  their urgent intervention to help the beleaguered sector which is staring at closure due to the COVID-19  pandemic

Considering that the proportion of fixed operating expenses in our business is very high, this may lead to
massive operating losses 

For More Information

www.newindianexpress.com/business/2020/may/28/nrai-seeks-rental-waiver-of-malls-2149020.html

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announces new Asia Pacific Leadership

Key Take Away

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has appointed Joon Aun Ooi as President of the Asia Pacific region. Our focus in the region and continued commitment to making hotel travel possible for all remains unchanged

The company has brought together its South East Asia and Pacific Rim business with its Greater China operation to establish the Asia Pacific region.

For More Information:

https://www.thehotelconversation.com.au/news/2020/05/18/wyndham-hotels-resorts-announces-new-asia-pacific-leadership/1589755730?utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=ET_batch&utm_campaign=ethospitality_news_2020-05-18&dt=2020-05-18

Marriott announces North American, international leadership changes

Long-time Marriott International senior executive Dave Grissen has decided to step down from his position as group president, the Americas, toward the end of 2020 and retire from Marriott in the first quarter of 2021

Grissen leads all aspects of the company's biggest region, the Americas, which generates more than two-thirds of the company's fee revenues

Under Grissen's leadership, Marriott's Americas organization has grown from 2,928 hotels to 5,640 properties today, with another 1,800 hotels in the pipeline

New North American and International Leadership

Marriott also announced plans for the company's lodging operations to be consolidated under two long-time Marriott leaders after Grissen steps down from his current role. Under this plan, Liam Brown will take on the role of group president, North America and Craig S. Smith will take on the role of group president, International.

Brown currently is group president, Europe, Middle East & Africa. Brown was president, Europe, and before that, president, select brands and owner and franchise services, North America.

The company expects that David Marriott, currently president, U.S. full service, managed by Marriott, will join the company's board of directors in 2021

Tamarack Resort Announces Plan for Phased Reopening Beginning May 16

In accordance with Idaho Rebounds, Gov. Brad Little’s guidelines for opening up Idaho, Tamarack Resort has received approval from Central District Health for its phased reopening beginning on Saturday, May 16.

The phased approach prioritizes the health and safety of employees, guests, and homeowners while resuming dining, lodging, and recreation-based activities.

Starting May 16, Tamarack will resume its dining and lodging services and will also open its meadow hiking and biking trails for complimentary use while encouraging appropriate social distancing. Tamarack’s recently opened retail outlets, including the Clearwater Coffee Shop and Village Market and Deli, will also reopen with enhanced health and safety protocols. Construction on The Village at Tamarack will resume, including real estate tours of the Village residential units and the real estate gallery. Additional activities will resume on the following dates:

• May 21: Scenic lift rides on Tamarack Express

• May 22 (Memorial Day Weekend): Waterfront Cabana motorized & non-motorized boat rentals

• May 28: Lift-served mountain biking (dependent on mid-mountain snow melt)

• June 6: Tamarack Zipline Tours (dependent on mid-mountain snow melt)

• Mid-June: Guided whitewater rafting trips on the Cabarton stretch of the North Fork of the Payette River.

For all recreation updates, guests are encouraged to visit TamarackIdaho.com for the latest days and hours of operations, and to pre-book excursions.

Several of Tamarack’s new protocols and procedures across the resort will include:

• COVID-19 training for employees pursuant to Central District Health (CDH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines

• All employees will receive daily temperature checks and be provided gloves and masks to wear during interactions with the public

• Enhanced cleaning and sanitizing of all high-touch surfaces, lodging properties, and recreation equipment

• Installation of Plexiglass dividers at all point of sale locations

• Hand sanitizing stations located throughout the resort, including all high traffic areas, elevators, and entry ways to main buildings

• Signage and markers to support all social distancing guidelines

• Limiting the number of guests inside dining, reception, and ticket areas

• Use of one-time menus in dining establishments

• Use of touchless card readers for transactions

• Complimentary masks available for all guests who forget to bring their own

  The resort encourages all guests planning to visit Tamarack and surrounding mountain communities in Valley County to respect new protocols in place at local businesses and recreation areas – by continuing social distancing, wearing a mask in public, practicing good hand hygiene, and staying home when feeling sic

Karnataka permits bars, clubs to sell liquor at MRP

The move by the Karnataka government is part of its plans to shore up revenues from excise and help the cash-starved state in its battle against COVID-19 and the economic uncertainty that shrouds it.

The notification by the excise department says that establishments with cl-4 (clubs), cl-7 (hotels and boarding houses) and cl-9 (bars and restaurants) outside containment zones and malls or shopping complexes be allowed to resume sales to ensure its stock like beer does not expire and add to their losses.

The excise department notification comes at a time when the B.S. Yediyurappa-led state government has eased lockdown restrictions in most parts of Karnataka including Bengaluru, its growth engine, that has been classified as a red zone.He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should declare Covid-19 as a national disaster and that Yediyurappa should demand a ₹50,000 crore special package for Karnataka.

With taps from the centre drying up, Karnataka has already increased excise prices by 17-25% (depending on slabs) that would help raise at least ₹2,000 crores. The state had set a fiscal target of ₹22,700 crore for the current year and has been clocking high sales ,when liquor sales started in the state.

Manu Chandra, the head of the Bengaluru chapter of the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) says that selling liquor at MRP would deplete the investments of such establishments.

The liquor that we have in our stores right now is essentially capital or investment that’s lying with us which whenever we open we may be able to sell at whatever margins we used to

He adds that owners of these restaurants pay a higher renewal fee and the MRP model would hit its “economics for a six".

He says that the lockdown happened at the end of March and much of the stocks had depleted with restaurants normally waiting till the beginning of April to replenish. He says that not everyone in the business may be able to sustain this model and may write to the excise department to stop liquor sales and only keep the kitchen open.

GBTA Industry Forum Series: Interview with Patrick Pacious, President & CEO, Choice Hotels

Scott Solombrino, CEO, GBTA chats with Patrick Pacious, President and CEO of Choice Hotels as part of the GBTA Industry Forum Series. Patrick shares his experience working for a hotel company where 100% hotels are franchised, the challenges facing small business owners, their advocacy efforts and the government funding which has been introduced to support these businesses.

For more detail please visit on below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-9h2PV-CaI#action=share

Las Vegas Sands Announces Temporary Closure of Las Vegas Properties

Las Vegas Sands announced that, out of an abundance of caution and in line with recent guidance from federal and state governments, it is closing its Venetian and Palazzo resorts in Las Vegas until at least April 1. A decision on whether to extend the closure or re-open will be made at a later date. The process of closing the properties will begin immediately and be completed as soon as possible.

"These are clearly challenging times for our country and our community. We are in the hospitality and entertainment business and our team members work very hard to provide a great experience for the thousands of people who come through our doors daily. However, our most important commitment is the one we have made to the health and safety of our team members and guests.

Right now, the best way to fulfill that commitment is by asking people to not come to work. While we hope this closure is a short-term necessity, we are realistic it may be a prolonged event. Like we have done in the past, we are fully prepared to support our team members over an extended period should it be needed," said Rob Goldstein, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands.

The company also announced it is donating a total of $250,000 to several important local organizations to serve our community during this time of need. Those organizations include Three Square, Communities In Schools and Share Village Las Vegas. In addition, the company plans to bolster that financial support with donations of meals and needed equipment.

Hospitality Industry United for “Buy One, Give One” Campaign to Jumpstart Travel, Support Hotels and Provide Thank You to Healthcare Workers

To help Jumpstart Leisure Travel, the hospitality industry has united to launch Buy One, Give One, a "vacay layaway" program designed to generate immediate revenue for hotels, while simultaneously providing a "thank you" to healthcare workers who have been tirelessly working on the front lines.

Available at BuyOneGiveOneStay.com through June 30, the initiative incentives consumers to purchase future travel now with special offers ranging from discounted stays to gift cards to loyalty points for redemption prior to travel.

In return, participating hospitality brands/hotels will donate room nights, gift cards, or loyalty points to organizations, including the American Nurses Association and NewYork-Presbyterian, among others of their choice, to distribute to medical professionals who can use them toward future leisure stays.

 MMGY Global, the largest integrated marketing company specializing in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry, and the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) partnered to launch the effort.

Hospitality has been one of the industries most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic with 70% of hotel employees laid off or furloughed and eight in 10 hotel rooms empty, according to data released by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).

From the comfort of their homes, travelers can explore enticing offers from more than 30 participating hospitality brands and hotels and counting. They can also take comfort in knowing that their purchases will result in meaningful donations by the participants.

"In these unprecedented times, it is more important than ever for all of us to join together to fuel recovery," said Bob Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, President & CEO of HSMAI. "With Buy One, Give One, we offer a collective charitable response to the pandemic across the hospitality industry, providing immediate funds to hotels in addition to a much-deserved respite in the future for those who have put their lives on the line to care for the sick."

Hospitality Sector Should Prepare for an Extended Stay from COVID-19

"The impact to our industry is already more severe than anything we've seen before, including September 11th and the Great Recession of 2008 combined." A chilling statement from Chip Rogers, President of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) on March 17—just as COVID-19 was starting to unleash its global fury.

Decimation

To understand the full scope, you need to look at the impact on the providers who support this $1.6 trillion industry. Many hotel properties that were running at 70% occupancy are now below 5%, and the industry is in danger of losing four million jobs along with $3.5 billion per week. With numbers like these, there's no "silver lining" and with all of the pain and uncertainty that remain, how can we realistically talk about a "new normal?"

Hospitality Company Impact

1. Liquidity - During times like these, cash is king. It's literally a lifeline. Public hotel companies are aggressively raising debt through note offerings to increase near-term liquidity. Hilton recently announced that it had pre-sold $1 billion in cash worth of loyalty points to American Express, a relatively inexpensive source of near-term liquidity for the company. Companies have slashed corporate staff anywhere from 15% to 50%. 

2. Technology - Properties and companies that were early adopters of technology will be better positioned to weather the COVID-19 storm. We're already seeing a preference toward mobile pay options versus cash. Imagine hotels staffed entirely by robots; this is already a common practice in Japan.

3. Higher Costs - There will increased expenditures on quality assurance and sanitation programs. And while hospitality companies will need to invest in masks, sanitizers, gloves and enhanced training, until demand returns to normal these costs probably can't be passed onto consumers

4. Spatial Changes - Have we witnessed the beginning of the end of the Las Vegas buffets? Communal has become a dirty word across all industries.

5. Planning for the Next One - At some point, hospitality companies will need to create or update their disaster planning/recovery guides

   Traveler Impact

   Deep Discounts - A traveler's dollar will certainly go farther, specifically in cities that have had coronavirus clusters. It's a simple issue of supply and demand.

   Government Involvement - Just like after 9/11, flyers had increased demands on identification. Similarly, we could see COVID-19 travel requirements such as antibody certificates; personal protective gear requirements; mandatory temperature taking upon entry of a restaurant, cruise ship, theme park, etc.

   Risk Aversion Isn't One Size Fits All - Let's face it, traveling in and around Boise isn't the same as traversing Boston.

   A Way Forward

   The knock on the big established chains was that they were slow to change and adapt to consumer preferences.

Ranjit Batra, President – Hospitality, Panchshil Realty pens his view on the emerging new order in hospitality

The hotel industry will see a paradigm shift in the post-COVID-19 world. We will soon be referring to it in terms of BC and AC — Before COVID and After COVID. A lot of people compare the resilience of the hotel industry during the SARS epidemic and the 2018 financial crisis, and it eventually got back after a lag of a couple of years.

Most of them believe — taking cues from the fact that almost 85% of hotels in China have opened now — that it will see a V-shaped recovery. I think that is a pipe dream. SARS was an epidemic and affected only 26 countries.

In India, the entire country was placed under lockdown at a snap of the finger. This will have a significant impact on all the key stakeholders — owners, operators and customers. There will be some short-term impact and some long-term structural changes.

HVS India estimates hotel revenues in India to decline by anywhere between $8.5billion and $10 billion in 2020, not to mention the job losses. Let us take the impact on different stakeholders.

THE OWNERS

Indian owners will be staring at a loss for 2020, with a glimmer of hope that 2021 at least sees them break even. Taking a cue from HVS estimate of revenue loss and assuming average NOP margins of 25% to 30%, the owners would be staring at a loss of NOP of almost $2.5 billion to $ 3 billion. The owners will also have to bear the opening cost, once the hotels are ready to open after the lockdown.

THE OPERATORS

Operators have long maintained that their interest is aligned to that of owners as their fees are tied to revenues and net profits. However, it will be interesting to see whether the operators step up to the plate and ease the financial burden of the owners, especially when most of the owners are at their wit's end. The test of a relationship is always in hard times only.

It will be interesting to see how the relationship between the operators and their employees will pan out, with some operators choosing to seek pay-cuts from their employees, while some choosing to stand by them, making sure there are no pay-cuts and insisting that owners toe the line

THE CUSTOMERS

The increase in a web-based meeting on the likes of Zoom and CISCO WebEx, coupled with the shift towards work-from-home, will lead to business travel being curtailed to a large extent in the near future. Hotels, mainly dependent on business travellers, will require significant time before their occupancies see some traction. Usually, domestic leisure destinations should rebound first, with domestic travel restrictions being eased first.

THE WAY FORWARD

The future will belong to the owners with a stronger balance sheet and operators who stand by the owners. The customers will vote with their feet for hotels that they feel safe in and care about the environment.

Thai Airways to ground its entire fleet for two months, all employees to take unpaid leave

2nd April 2020 – (Bangkok) Embattled Thai Airways International announced that they will ground all flights for 2 months and the employees have been requested to take two months off from 4th April to 31st May.

From today, flights to destinations in the same region have been suspended until 31st May. All flights to Europe will be cancelled from now till end of May.

Since the beginning of this year, the passenger load per flight has dropped to fewer than 50%. The President of the airline, Chakkrit Parapuntakul said many countries are on coronavirus lockdown, so the company has to suspend flights and close its offices.

Nevada Extends Casino Coronavirus-Related Closures Until April 30

Las Vegas casinos will be closed at least another month due to coronavirus fears, but the dormant resorts and convention halls are getting alternatively used for healthcare services.

The new order keeps the state’s hospitality industry and most other businesses shuttered in line with national social distancing guidelines that President Donald Trump decided over the weekend to extend until April 30 to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Sisolak said activating the National Guard will speed up and make logistical planning and delivery of medical supplies more efficient, as well as provide additional resources for the state’s labor force. It also makes Nevada eligible for additional federal funding.

At least 31 people have died of the coronavirus in Nevada, and more than 1,000 people in the state have been diagnosed with the COVID-19.

Officials said up to 1,000 beds could be provided at about 12 Las Vegas-area hotels, motels, convention halls, surgical centers and warehouses to shelter recuperating coronavirus patients who don’t need hospitalization. Clark County Commission Chairman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said more sites were sought.

The facilities are in addition to a 40-bed temporary hospital being built next to the Southern Nevada Health District office and a 350-bed tent complex under construction next to Cashman Center for homeless people who need isolation but not hospitalization.

More Than Six Million Jobs at Risk in the EU and One Million in the UK if Governments Don’t Provide Exceptional Flexibility, Says WTTC

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), has urged EU authorities and the UK Government to implement flexibility around consumer refunds to alleviate the unbearable pressure on the Travel & Tourism sector.

Research conducted by WTTC shows that 75 million Travel & Tourism jobs are at risk globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with at least 6.4 million losses across the EU, and one million in the UK.

WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, says that this important measure will have a profound effect to reduce the damaging situation that the majority of tour operators and travel agents, online and offline, and are facing due to the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The current 14-day timeline for refunds is putting enormous burdens on businesses in the Travel & Tourism sector and will lead to major bankruptcies. These, in turn, will lead to more claims by consumers on credit card firms and ultimately government bonded schemes.

Gloria Guevara, President and CEO, WTTC said, “This measure should be implemented immediately and help lift the already crushing financial pressure on Travel & Tourism organisations and save the millions of livelihoods that depend on them.”

Hotel Sales Teams: Two Sales Tasks You Can Do This Week To Get Ready For The Rebound - By Doug Kennedy

About Doug Kennedy

Doug Kennedy is President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc. a leading provider of hotel sales, guest service, reservations, and front desk training programs and telephone mystery shopping services for the lodging and hospitality industry

Since 1996, Doug’s monthly training articles have been published worldwide, making him one of the most widely read hospitality industry authorities

For most hotels in North America, the sales team is entering week three of the Covid19 disruption. The first week or so was just crazy, as salespeople from all market segments endured a frantic wave of cancelations and postponements.  Just as that wave was starting to pass, most sales leaders had to make the difficult move of furloughing or laying off sales staff to pare down the payroll costs

Rather than signing off work early, here are two sales-related tasks you can do right now to get ready for the rebound, with more to come soon in my future blogs published here.

1) Reach out personally to your key client contacts.Instead, use your time to connect personally one-to-one.  For your very top tier, long-term clients, consider a phone call during their local business hours. State upfront that you are just calling to check on them personally. For most clients, a personal email is the best medium. While it’s okay to start with a template for an opening and ending, be sure to include something in the first few sentences that shows the receiver it’s genuine, not generic.

2) Master the use of your sales CRM.  When travel fully reopens, the competition is going to be greater than ever for the leads that resurface first.  

Instead, they use a mixed bag of inefficient tools such as flagged emails, calendar appointments, post-it notes and handwritten notes scribbled on print-outs of RFP’s.  This is a great time to become hyper-organized so you can be efficient later when the pent-up demand breaks through the barrier.

Register for the online tutorials that most sales CRMs offer, or to schedule a screen-share meeting with a coworker or friend to share tips and tactics.  Clean-up your CRM “task lists” and eliminate the past-due ones that have been haunting you for too long now. Get with your system administrator and redo the “auto-tasks” that occur when business goes definite, so they match what you truly need, and don’t clog-up your future lists with red flags.

President Trump weighs cruise line bailout: Would they need to come home to the U.S.?

President Donald Trump said he likes the idea of major cruise ship companies shifting their corporate registrations to the U.S. as a possible requirement in order to qualify for aid under the federal stimulus bill.

He also voiced support for the notion of the government taking ownership stakes in airlines in exchange for loans to keep them afloat as vital businesses.

The comments came as industries assess how they fared after the Senate passed the $2 trillion stimulus bill,which now goes to the House. Trump has repeatedly voiced support for airlines and cruise ship companies, saying they are great businesses that deserve to be kept afloat despite being devastated by the business downturn in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump noted that the cruise lines order a lot of goods in the U.S and have thousands of employees, including many who work on U.S. soil. He hinted that perhaps there may still be a lifeline for the industry by the time the final version of the stimulus hits his desk for a signature