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1. AccorInvest Makes Swap Deal with Covivio
AccorInvest, an ownership spinoff from French hotel group Accor, signed a framework agreement with French real estate investment trust Covivio Hotels
to swap €393 million ($420 million) in economy and midscale hotels, HNN's Terence Baker reports.
"The agreed value of the property companies transferred to AccorInvest is €208 million, while the value of the operating companies acquired by Covivio Hotels is €266 million," states a news release from Covivio.
2. American Tourism Boom in Southern Europe
There's been a tourism boom across southern Europe this summer, and it can be attributed mostly to one group: Americans. The value of the dollar can go further in European countries such as Portugal right now, and Americans are taking advantage of it, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Times are so good right now in Lisbon, Portugal's capital city, that Mayor Carlos Moedas cut the local income tax and made public transit free for young people and the elderly.
Gonçalo Dias, director and co-owner of the Ivens, a $1,000-a-night hotel in downtown Lisbon, told he newspaper room rates are increasing and tourists continue to spend money. He plans to add a jazz club to the basement of his hotel, where more than half of the reservations are from Americans.
3. AI Leads to Online Phishing Scams in Hospitality
Artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT are being used to create scam emails that mimic actual emails from travel sites, Barron's reports.
Marnie Wilking, chief information security officer of Booking.com, said generative AI is being used to scam potential travelers with fraudulent emails.
"Of course, we've had phishing since the dawn of email. But the uptick started shortly after ChatGPT got launched. The attackers are definitely using AI to launch attacks that mimic emails far better than anything that they've done to date," she said.
4. Taylor Swift's Impact on European Economy
Taylor Swift began the European leg of her Eras Tour on May 9, and the tour is already having an outsize impact on Europe's economy, possibly leading to higher inflation, the New York Times reports.
When asked at an event earlier this week about how the Paris Olympics and Euro 2024 soccer tournament could impact inflation in the services sector, Philip Lane, the chief economist at the European Central Bank, said: "You managed to say all that without saying Taylor Swift."
"The demand that the Eras Tour creates for hotel rooms and flights across Europe could push up prices that feed into each country’s inflation rate. Central bankers are sensitive to even minute changes in the data as they try to distinguish one-off effects from lasting ones. If central bankers worry that inflation is not slowing as expected, they could hold off cutting rates," the Times reports.
5. American Airlines Fails To Reach Deal with Union
The latest round of negotiations between American Airlines and a union representing flight attendants for the airline concluded without a deal in place, Reuters reports.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents about 28,000 American Airlines flight attendants, said this pushes them closer to a strike, which can only happen with approval from the National Mediation Board. American Airlines, however, believes a deal could be near.
"This agreement is within reach and we look forward to additional dates being scheduled," the airline spokesperson said.