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1. Security protocol questioned following White House correspondents' dinner shooting
After a shooter managed to get into the hotel where the annual White House correspondents' dinner was taking place, authorities are looking into how the security breach happened. Politico reported that Republican lawmakers are interested in creating a House committee to look into the shooting and security at the event.
The Washington Hilton, the 1,107-key hotel that hosted the 2,300-seat dinner was closed to the public six hours prior to the event and guests were required to go through checks to enter, including scans by airport-style metal detectors, per The Guardian.
Sean Curran, the Secret Service director, said the security process was successful as the suspect was taken down and only one injury was sustained.
2. Whitbread expected to sell off batch of Premier Inns
According to The Times, Whitbread is planning to offload "a swathe of" Premier Inn hotels to free up £1.5 billion ($2 billion) for shareholders. The company is expected to reveal its plans for the sale and leaseback of 20% of its freehold hotel properties currently in its portfolio.
Around half of Premier Inn hotel freeholds are under Whitbread ownership, The Times reported, adding that, following the company's intended changes, Whitbread will own around 40% of Premier Inn's freeholds.
"The move will turn Whitbread into a majority leasehold business for the first time since Premier Inn was founded in 1987," reads the article. "City sources said that the move, coupled with other initiatives to boost cash flow, would release about £1.5 billion that could then be returned to shareholders."
3. Dip in demand leads to renovation activity in Dubai hotels
Hoteliers in Dubai have the opportunity to invest in major renovations as the war in Iran drives a dip in hotel demand and travel activity in the Middle East. In March, Dubai's occupancy nosedived 54.4% year over year to 33.1%, CoStar News Hotels' Terence Baker reports.
With several hotels already closed, Baker reports that renovations are likely to be sweeping, as owners are looking for full transformations.
“Renovations today are, therefore, no longer just about image or room refurbishment. They are a whole-asset transformation,” said Alejandra Resa Abad, a Dubai-based regional director for the Middle East and Africa of business consultancy RLA Global.
4. Budget airlines team up to demand $2.5 billion US government bailout
Frontier Airlines, Avelo Airlines and other unnamed budget airlines have teamed up to seek a $2.5 billion bailout from the United States government, The Wall Street Journal reported exclusively.
The airlines calculated how much more they believe they will be spending on jet fuel this year compered to previous forecasts, and that is how the $2.5 billion figure was determined. The airlines proposed exchanging the bailout for "warrants that could convert into equity stakes in the companies," per the article.
5. Wildfires, tornados drive evacuations and displacements across parts of US
Severe weather this past weekend greatly affected parts of the U.S., and some areas in particular aren't yet in the clear. Two large wildfires have plagued Georgia and into Florida, one of which exceeds 31 square miles, reported the Associated Press on Sunday.
Authorities advised evacuations as the fire, which began April 20, was only 7% contained on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a storm caused by a tornado killed two North Texas residents and displaced around 20 families, according to the AP. The tornado "moved southeast from around Wichita Falls, near the Oklahoma border, passing just west of Fort Worth," reads the article.