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The U.S. Department of Justice announced intentions to sue Steve Wynn, founder and former CEO of Wynn Hotels. The DOJ claims Wynn used his relationship with former President Donald Trump to “advance [China’s] interests in 2017, the first time in more than 30 years the government has enacted a civil lawsuit under the Foreign Agents Registration Act," according to The Washington Post. The U.S. Department of Justice's complete filing is available here.

The DOJ claimed it asked Wynn three times to register under FARA, although “he declined to do so,” and has accused Wynn of “relaying a request from a senior Chinese official asking that the Trump administration remove a Chinese national who had sought asylum in the U.S.,” according to the Post. The report added at the time of the alleged incident, Wynn had “significant business interests involving China, owning and operating casinos in Macao, and acted out of a desire to protect his business interests."

According to new employment research among Gen Z and millennials in the United Kingdom, 78% said a lack of social interaction has been a major consideration in their decision to change their employment, according to Hilton. The company added 25% of employees between 18 and 41 said they considered changing employers in the past year “over concerns for their mental health and well-being.”

Among other findings, 38% of Gen Zers said they preferred employers that champion diversity, equity and inclusion. About 29% of millennials agree, but most value an employer that champions sustainability. A total of 71% of those surveyed said their “perfect job should include the ability to meet new people, sample different roles and offer a work-life balance.”

The average spending of pension funds increases as retirees get older, with income disproportionately directed at hotels and cruises, according to the London-based Institute for Fiscal Studies, which warned retirees that in this “new, complex world of low interest rates, high inflation and managing drawdown, they shouldn’t bank on being happy with spending falling as they get older.”

“While spending on food enjoyed at home and on motoring fell steadily with age, annual spending on holidays increased by 430 (pounds sterling, or $534) between ages 67 and 75,” the research added.

Heidi Karjalainen, a research economist at the IFS, said, “If the spending patterns of current retirees are a good guide to how people in the future will want to spend, planning drawdowns on the basis of reduced spending needs in later retirement may not be wise as it may result in unexpected shortfalls in living standards at older ages.”

For the week of May 8-14, U.S. hotel ADR and revenue per available room once again exceeded 2019 levels, according to data from STR. ADR was $148.31, up 10.5% above the same week in 2019, and RevPAR was $98.59, a 4.1% increase over 2019. Occupancy for the week was 66.5%.

In Canada for the same week, none of the three regular metrics saw an improvement over 2019 numbers. Occupancy declined 7% to 62.4%, ADR dipped 0.5% and RevPAR fell 7.4%. Not a single Canadian province or major market posted positive numbers in all three metrics for the week in question.

Hotels in the United Arab Emirates’ two principal markers, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, saw occupancy and average daily rate during Eid al-Fitr exceed those of the same holiday in 2019, according to data from STR, CoStar Group’s hospitality analytics firm.

Abu Dhabi’s hotel occupancy on May 2 reached 79.1%, 4.5% higher than that of June 4, 2019. Dubai’s occupancy on May 2 was 75.4%, 19.7% higher than the pre-pandemic comparable.

“While these key markets saw higher occupancy levels, they also posted room rates that were in some cases nearly double what was reported in 2019,” said Philip Wooller, STR’s senior director, Middle East & Africa.

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