Ciao Round-Up Readers!

Just back from the stunning new Cape of Senses resort on Lake Garda! Led by Alina Deutsch, the amazing woman who oversaw the construction and final concepting of the 55-suite luxury property. The resort is already running smoothly after soft-opening in July. Look for a full interview with Alina soon, in the meantime, if you are considering a holiday in Italy, put this gorgeous, contemporary resort on your list. Absolute serenity with lake views for days, delicious food, and a great spa. If you want to explore the area, two charming lake towns, Garda and Torri del Benaco, are just a five minute drive, plus there's so much more to do...biking, hiking, watersports, cooking classes and visits to wineries and olive oil producers. We did the olive oil tour and tasting at Le Prandine, which was fascinating.

Happy International Housekeeping Week! We've got an interview with the inspiring Desi Petkova, Executive Housekeeper, Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill about her career, and she also shares her top cleaning hacks! What are you doing to celebrate the 'heart of the house'?

And, Happy Labor Day to our American readers, hope you are enjoying the last day of summer! Today was back to school in the UK. Yup, fall is upon us, with new hotel openings in London and lots of planning for next year...what are you excited about? Email me! I'd love to hear what you are working on or interested in right now.

Now, let's get to the news...

 Business, Women, and Random Trends:
 

• Resilient U.S. Economy Defies Expectations Strong hiring and spending are keeping a recession at bay. The Wall Street Journal cites three reasons:

  • a growing workforce and slower price increases have boosted Americans’ inflation-adjusted or “real” incomes

  • the unusual nature of the Covid-19 pandemic distorted spending patterns, leading to shortages of goods, housing and workers, this created pent-up demand (definitely in travel!)

  • govt initially showered the economy with cash and held interest rates at rock-bottom levels, allowing businesses and consumers to lock in lower borrowing costs
     

•  Late Shift: Older people will exceed a quarter of G7′s workforce by 2031 A whopping 150 million jobs will shift to workers over the age of 55 by 2030, according to a new global study from Bain & Company.  Read more on CNBC.
   

• Menopause is hot! Lots of chatter on LinkedIn about companies offering new accomodations in the workplace and research shows women really appreciate these menopause programs! Is your company doing something cool? Let me know about it!
   

• The "Other Work" Remote Workers Get Done We are all about unmasking the "invisible workload" of caring that (mainly women) bear the brunt of doing, which is why this essay in The Atlantic on WFH is an important read. "Our entire economy hinges on human labor, but the unpaid work that goes into raising a productive laborer is absent from economic indicators."
   

• Living On Her Own Terms by a 49-year Old Woman Who is Dying One of the best things you’ll read this week, Washington Post writer Amy Ettinger writes about dying with no regrets.

   

• How to Flirt, According to a Bartender Hospitality sharpens all kinds of skills! This is a great read in The Cut.
   

• Mind the Worm! Live worm found in Australian woman's brain for the first time, ever. Doctors think it might have been from eating foraged greens (be careful!)

Travel & Hospitality:
 

• McKinsey Predicts the Hotel of the Future A short video from the highly-regarded consulting practice that forecasts everything from the type of travelers and labor issues to tech and sustainability in hotels.
   

• Will Rates Hold—and Could There Be a Consumer Breaking Point? Virtuoso reports 2024-25 sales are up 39 percent over 2022 (107 percent over 2019), read more in Luxury Travel Advisor.
   

• Airbnb’s NYC Listings Could Be Down 70% after September 5 In a win for hotel companies, a new regulatory clampdown in New York City is restricting apartments rentals. Skift reports NYC only generated about 1% of Airbnb's 2022 revenue, but the city is an important market.
   

• The World’s Oldest Hotel Has Been Dispensing Hospitality for More Than 1300 Years Japan’s Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has been in operation since 705 CE, a fun and informative video about this historical hotel located about three hours from Tokyo.  

On hertelier this week:

Big welcome to our new subscribers! The story in Forbes, How Women Are Changing The Hotel Industry, keeps bringing new readers! Super excited to have you here. 
 

• Eva Mount on the Opening of The BoTree Hotel in London The highly anticipated opening of the BoTree will happen on September 15 in London. We get the scoop from the woman in charge, Eva Mount!
   

• Reconnecting with Your Spidey Sense Columnist Nancy Mendelson reminds us why we should get stuck in nature before summer ends.
   

• 7 Common Objections to Sustainable Practices in the Hotel Industry and Why They Are Wrong Seven common objections to sustainable practices in the hotel industry and the important reasons to embrace change, now by contributors Anton Safonov and Michelle Session.
   

• Desislava “Desi” Petkova, Executive Housekeeper, Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill In celebration of International Housekeepers Week, we chat with Desi Petkova, Executive Housekeeper at Hyatt Regency London -- The Churchill.

Listen UP! Podcasts and Videos to Download

• Women's World Cup Football (Soccer) Kiss-Gate In case you haven't heard, Luis Rubiales, the Head of Spanish Football, kissed star player Jenni Hermoso on the lips in the aftermath of Spain's World Cup win. She was upset; he claims she wanted it. Now, he is refusing to step down from his post. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The News Agents podcast offers a good explainer.
   

• Freddie Mercury Singing "Let It Go" from Frozen and Other Surprising Musical Collabs How? AI of course. Hard Fork from the NYT shares clips of deceased artists singing new songs. Really interesting (and funny) explanation on how AI is shaping the music we hear and how audio is better positioned than writing or other artforms to be compensated.
   

• The Singing Cat Blowing Up on TikTok If you know me, you know I love cats! This kitty is unbelievable.

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Thank you for reading! Have a great week!

Em