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1. Hotels increase background checks amid immigration issues
Reuters reports hiring managers at hotels did 36% more background checks on employees in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from Hireology. This is largely driven by stricter immigration policy from the U.S. federal government.
The U.S. Travel Association claims more than one third of travel industry workers are foreign born, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association said there were over 2.15 million people working at U.S. hotels in 2024.
2. Signs emerge that US consumers regain confidence
The Wall Street Journal reports that consumers who have been rattled by tariffs in recent months seem to be back to spending, with retail sales exceeding economists' projections.
“We’ve been surprised again and again by consumers,” said Jonathan Millar, senior U.S. economist at Barclays.
Several banks have reported rising credit card spending and profits, and small business sentiment is up as well.
"In a July survey of 1,267 U.S. small-business owners by digital-marketing platform Constant Contact, 44% of respondents said demand for services and products is higher than they anticipated in January," the newspaper reports. "A third were extremely optimistic that their business would be performing better in the next three months, and just under a third thought they would add more employees by then."
3. Mixed signals emerge ahead of hotel earnings season
Wall Street analysts who cover the hotel industry's publicly traded companies see a better outlook from brands than real estate investment trusts, CoStar News' Trevor Simpson reports.
Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and managing director at Baird, said it's likely to be a positive sounding quarter for hotel brands as they have largely exceeded the low end of their forecasts.
"Broadly speaking, trends, performance, expectations have not gotten incrementally worse over the last 90 days, so I think I'd call it a less bad trade has unfolded," he said. "Stock prices are up, estimates are rationing higher — mainly because the low ends of the guidance ranges that a lot of these companies sensitized for, it's just not going to play out."
4. Alaska Airlines flights grounded due to software issues
Alaska Airlines and subsidiary Horizon Air stopped all flights Sunday due to what NBC News reports as a "computer system outage." The ground stop was lifted early Monday morning.
“We are experiencing issues with our IT systems. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to resolve the issues," read a statement from the company.
Further delays and disruptions are expected to linger through the day Monday with the airline warning of "residual impacts."
5. Japanese elections result in more conservative government
The Japanese government has shifted to the right as the result of Sunday's elections, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to remain in power at least for the time being, the Associated Press reports.
While Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party lost seats and the previous ruling coalition with partner party Komeito lost the majority, there are seemingly not enough votes to remove him from power. And Ishiba said he plans to say in place to deal with inflation in the country and negotiations with the U.S. related to tariffs.
“While I painfully feel my serious responsibility over the election results, I believe I must also fulfill my responsibility I bear for the country and the people so as not to cause politics to stall or go adrift,” Ishiba said. “Challenges such as global situation and natural disaster won’t wait for a better political situation.”