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1. British Airports Ordered To Cut Flights Amid Staff Shortage
United Kingdom government and airline regulators have ordered British airports and airlines to cut the number of flights this summer due to a lack of staff having already caused chaos, cancellations and delays in check in, logistics and baggage handling, according to industry membership organization British Aviation Group.
On June 17, Gatwick Airport, London and the U.K.’s second-largest airport announced it will reduce its July flight schedule to 825 daily, down from 900 in previous years, and to 850 in August. Several airlines issued apologies to customers last month following delays and cancellations, saying jobs cut during the pandemic have not been filled.
2. Fall In Pound Sterling Value Hits Vacationers’ Foreign Spending Power
The U.K.’s currency, the pound sterling, fell below $1.20 against the U.S. dollar, its lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a result of fears of the country’s weakening economy, according to the BBC, which added the pound sterling’s value against the euro hit a 13-month low.
The currency’s drop in value has led to worry that U.K. vacationers’ spending power on vacations to the U.S. and mainland Europe will be diminished. Jane Foley, senior foreign-exchange strategist at Dutch bank Rabobank, told the BBC “when we look at the dollar, it's very strong, so holidaymakers going to the U.S. are really going to see the weakness. … Sterling’s been on the backfoot for several years, so to some extent this weakness is already expected.”
3. Interest Rate Increases Add to List of Growing Costs of Hotel Development
The U.S. interest-rate increase of 0.75 percentage points, announced on June 15, is, according to hoteliers, likely to further slow development and increase the pace of hotel transactions, Hotel News Now’s Bryan Wroten reports.
“Even if rates reach a projected 3.375% this year, they would still be relatively low compared to previous levels," Wroten writes, but "the rate hikes represent additional headwinds for hotel owners and developers already dealing with increased construction and transaction costs.”
David Pollin, co-founder and co-president of the Buccini/Pollin Group, said the rate increases and other factors are creating uncertainty around development projects, but the impact of that uncertainty is still not fully clear.
4. Fifteen Percent of Global CEOs Say World Already in Recession
Industry trade association The Conference Board said its latest polling of industry CEOs has shown “more than 60% of CEOs globally say they expect a recession in their primary region of operations before the end of 2023 or earlier … and 15% of CEOs say their region is already in recession.”
Among other concerns of the 750 CEOs who responded is the tension between the U.S. and China, which the report said is “likely to have a major impact on business operations in the coming 12 months."
5. Former Rome Communist HQ To Be Turned Into Luxury Hotel
The former headquarters of the Italian Communist Party in Rome is to be turned into a luxury hotel with 70 rooms and a rooftop restaurant, reports Italian-language newspaper Il Giornale.
The newspaper reported the seller is Finanziaria Tosinvest and the buyers are AG Group and Grupo Rossfin. The property, nicknamed the “Il Bottegone,” (“The Big Shop”) “was the headquarters of the most powerful communist party in the whole West [and] will undergo a symbolic retaliation: It will host wealthy tourists in the face of the proletariat."