Hilton (NYSE:HLT) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) today announced that the companies, in partnership with Hilton's ownership community, will donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to frontline medical professionals leading the fight against COVID-19.
While people are still struggling to survive, some theorists say, they do not think of the common good. Yet what this crisis has shown (for some surprisingly for some not), is that this is not by definition true. In The Netherlands, for example, we see locked-down restaurants offering meals to hospitals' personnel, who have no time to kook for themselves but need more than ever substantial and healthy food.
Covid-19 is a zoonotic disease - one that is transmitted from animals to humans. More than half of all diseases that emerged in the last decades belonged to this group. Scientists believe, that the present pandemic is just the tip of the iceberg.
Comparing the current Covid-19 crisis to a prospective climate crisis solely on the basis of both being crises does not make sense to me. It is more than obvious that each crisis has its own character, cause, and outcome. It is true that both have a serious impact on the hospitality industry, but, would we call it a crisis otherwise?
As individuals and communities contend with the severe impacts of COVID-19, Vail Resorts' CEO, Rob Katz, and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Elana's Pantry, today announced a donation of more than $2.5 million to provide immediate support for both Vail Resorts employees and the mountain towns where the Company operates.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) today announced it will donate two million medical masks and 20,000 protective suits to help health-care professionals, first responders and nonprofit organizations in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
FIU's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management is helping to put money into the hands of cooks, servers, dishwashers and all team members at restaurants and bars through a new partnership with the South Beach Wine & Food Festival®. The SOBEWFF® & FIU Chaplin School Hospitality Industry Relief Fund will provide immediate financial support to independently owned and operated restaurants and bars impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on House passage of the CARES Act.
IHG® has today announced the launch of the IHG® Hotel Colleague Job Center to support US-based hotel colleagues impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Caesars Entertainment, one of the world's most diversified gaming and entertainment companies, remains committed to helping nearby communities in this time of need, donating food, as well as essential personal protection equipment across the country to assist healthcare workers, law enforcement and more. To date, the company has supplied more than 250,000 pounds of food, which is equivalent to approximately 208,000 meals to numerous food banks and charities.
Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN), the world's leading resort company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is donating more than $2.5 million worth of goods this week to local medical facilities and nonprofits.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) today announced an array of initiatives intended to support those impacted economically by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including a $1 million crisis and disaster relief pledge into an employee emergency grant fund and donating the equivalent of 400,000 meals across the United States.
Red Roof®, the leader in upscale economy lodging, understands the difficulty of this uncertain time, especially for university and continuing education students who were suddenly displaced as a result of campuses closing due to CDC protocols in response to COVID-19. Mandated closings of schools across the country have left many with nowhere to go, as student housing and meal plans are suspended. Many students are in limbo and not able to return home due to travel restrictions and personal and professional obligations.
OYO Hotels & Homes is opening the doors to its hotels and offering free stays to doctors, nurses and other medical first responders who are helping in the fight against Coronavirus (Covid-19).
Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC, an Oxford Capital Group, LLC affiliate, is supplying the City of Chicago with up to 1,100 rooms at some of its hotel properties throughout Chicagoland to support efforts against the spread of coronavirus. In addition to housing asymptomatic guests and those requiring isolation, the rooms will also provide sanctuary for first responders who are involved in the war against COVID-19.
Domio, the apartment-hotel hospitality company, is offering free housing over the next two weeks in Miami, Chicago, and Nashville to medical professionals and first responders that are bravely leading the fight against COVID-19.
Global environmental concerns relating to climate change, rising carbon emissions, global warming, rising sea levels, and increased sea surface temperatures, among others, are at the forefront of today's concerns. These environmental issues cannot, and must not, be ignored, and they remain one of the primary concerns within the tourism and hotel industries. Sustainable development and operations within hotels are a large part of the equation in combating rising climate risks. This special market report aims to provide an overview of the sustainable practices within hotel operations and development, and their impacts on the profitability of real estate assets.
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) today announced it has completed the purchase of Verdant, a leader in energy management solutions for the hotel and hospitality industries. The addition of Verdant broadens Emerson's growing energy management and optimization capabilities for residential and commercial applications.
IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group) recently partnered with international nonprofit organization It's a Penalty to support anti-human trafficking efforts leading up to the Big Game in Miami on Feb. 2. As one of the world's leading hotel companies, IHG condemns human trafficking in all forms and is committed to raising awareness and aiding prevention of the crime, recently highlighting companywide training efforts during National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
This is a great question and one closely linked to our recent Sustainability Leaders Project panel question - whether sustainable tourism leads to more and better jobs. The panel's conclusion was that there is a notable relationship between sustainable tourism and jobs, mostly in terms of staff retention (because of more caring, fairer workplaces and a stronger sense of commitment and shared values).
Green teams!! I hear comments like "we tried that once" or "it's the last 15 minutes of our safety committee meeting" or "our executive committee is the green team." None of those is a solution to culture (or sustainability, quite frankly).
When working with hospitality clients on sustainability we found one key success factor: a healthy organization. Without an healthy organization, sustainability cannot be embedded into the corporate culture. This might then keep efforts narrow and superficial.
PM Hotel Group announced today that it has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership. As of January 2020, PM Hotel Group is exclusively purchasing Green power to meet 100% of the electricity needs for their entire hotel portfolio. PM Hotel Group is the first Top-100 hotel management company in the U.S. to be recognized by the EPA and to take this portfolio-wide pledge.
Since 2018, Airbnb has proudly partnered with Polaris-a leading anti-trafficking organization and operator of the US Human Trafficking Hotline-to combine their world-renowned expertise with the innovation and scale of the sharing economy to take a modern approach to preventing modern slavery.