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COVID-19: CEOs plead with Trump | Women’s consumer spending impact

Hotel CEOs: Release funds

The CEOs of major hotel brands, as well as small, independently owned hotels, wrote a letter calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to provide the hotel industry with relief by utilizing funds from the Main Street Lending Program. Only a small fraction of the US$600 billion available through the program has been utilized to date. According to a recent survey of hotel owners, more than two-thirds of hotels report they will only be able to last six more months at current projected revenue and occupancy levels without further relief. Major brands that signed their names to the letter include: Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott International, IHG and Best Western.

Read the full letter

Will women drive business post-pandemic?

The Global Business Travel Association’s recent webinar series featured a segment from WINIT By GBTA, a network focused on career mobility for women in travel-related industries. During that segment, BWH Hotel Group Chief Marketing Officer Dorothy Dowling gave her take on why the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted women especially hard: “The unemployment numbers our industry is experiencing today is a profound tragedy, with women making up a disproportionate number of the unemployment rate at 54%,” she said. “Women are vital to business, not only for the diversity of thought we bring, but because of the ‘power of the purse’: US$40 trillion in consumer spending comes from women.”

Read more on the webinar

An Expedia partnership toward recovery

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) signed a deal to work alongside Expedia Group to strengthen ties between the private and non-private tourism sectors. The focus will be on market intelligence and innovation, additionally focusing on advertising entrepreneurship (and professional) training, and within the area of client safety.

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Forte Hotels offers pre-flight COVID test: Rocco Forte Hotels launched a pre-flight testing service in partnership with U.K.-based company Blue Horizon. It’s in response to tighter entry restrictions to Italy, where Forte has several hotels; the U.K. has been added to the country’s COVID at-risk list. Blue Horizon will arrange for self-test kits to be couriered to and from people’s homes, with a test certificate sent to the customer’s email address within 72 hours of travel. Forte is offering a discount to use the service if the person is staying at one of its hotels.

Read more at Business Traveller

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