Hello!  

Writing to you now after visiting Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York.  Having a great time reconnecting with family and friends, so wonderful to see people and catch up in person.  There is no substitute!  I am writing this from Bridgehampton, which is as beautiful as I remember, but also very crowded...which leads me to the news...

• Occupancy continues to rise!  US hotel occupancy improved week over week, with the average daily rate being the highest on record, as per STR’s latest data through July 10.  Occupancy: 67.2%.  While leisure travel is strong, questions remain around the return of business travel.  In an interview with Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano in Yahoo! Finance, he said the fall will determine the recovery for corporate travel.
• Customer service and labor issues continue to make news. A small restaurant in Cape Cod stole headlines this week by closing for a "day of kindness" citing that the verbal abuse from customers was so bad that staff needed a break.  Demanding customers combined with labor shortages are making the recovery a challenge.  Listen to his Bloomberg podcast with Omni CFO Kurt Alexander for insights on staffing, labor, and service trends taking shape post-pandemic.
• Climate change causes mass flooding in Europe. Germany and other parts of Europe were deluged with floods this week, killing 184 people and leaving many without homes, power, water, and damage that will require repair.  Experts attribute increasing dramatic weather incidents to rising global temperatures.  
• COVID is still making the rounds, even in countries where the vaccine is available.  Bloomberg reports that New York has reported more than 1,000 new cases for the first time since May, and COVID is killing more Americans than guns, cars, and flu combined yet many people in the US and Europe are refusing to get the vaccine, which is key for continued recovery.  

Here's what happened on hertelier:

• SCOOP for round-up readers!! Nancy unpacks why you shouldn't let people "pick your brain" for free.  If you have any work or life issues you need help with, email columnist Nancy Mendelson at nancy@nemglobal.com.  
• Are you a fan of the Great British Bake Off? This week in F&Be, we meet Sarah and Cristina, pastry chefs at London's Rubens at the Palace, who just competed on GBBO: The Professionals--read about what it was like and what they learned....ready, set, baaaake!  
• Did you know the Hotel Figueroa in LA was the first hotel in the US built by women, for women in the 1920s? The property is still going strong today, as part of Hyatt's "Unbound Collection" and run by inspiring feminist and passionate director, Connie Wang.

Thank you for your support–reading, liking, and sharing our stories of women rocking the hotel industry!  If you have a friend or colleague that you think would enjoy hertelier please forward this email; anyone can sign up by clicking here or the button below.

Have a great week, 

Emily