Dear Round-Up Readers,

My whirlwind trip to the US––London-LA-NYC-London––was fantastic and despite my fears about travel delays mostly uneventful!  We waited on the plane for about 30 minutes on the return to London at LHR due to staff shortages at the gate, but no issues on the rest of the journey.  Hopefully, my experience bodes well for a strong summer of travel! 

I've come back to London in time for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the city is so festive! Nobody does pageantry like the English, read this short history of the Queen as a cultural icon and I love this travel pictorial from Vogue UK, 70 images of the Queen's Royal Tours over the years.

So, missing a week of Round-Up, there is quite a lot to catch up on!  Let's get to it.

Ukraine: June 3 marked 100 days of the war.  A few articles on what is happening now, sadly most predict this conflict will keep going. 

• 100 Days of War the New York Times summarises the devastation so far: over 15 million displaced Ukrainians (estimated 12 million refugees), nearly 5 million job losses, over 100 billion in destruction to the country's infrastructure, and the loss of many lives. 

• McKinsey summarizes the 12 ways the war is impacting the world from the humanitarian crisis to energy, food, and supply chain issues.  Highly recommend clicking on this for an easy-to-understand overview.

• Marriott hotel chain to leave Russia after 25 years The company had closed its office and investment in the country in March reports the BBC, and has now announced it wound down its remaining business from 22 franchised hotels.

Business News: lots happened over the last two weeks, I've picked just a few articles. 

• Sheryl Sandberg stepped down from Meta (Facebook) amid controversy and leaves a complicated legacy.  Lots in the news about this. Listen to the podcast Pivot for a summary and read this from The Guardian and this from the New York Times.

• How to become an inclusive leader. Useful tips from Entrepreneur mag on how to address everything from generational gaps to marginalized groups, and it's a quick read.

• Cryptocurrency based around carbon offsets. "Goddess Nature Tokens" are now available by Flowcarbon, a new company set up by Adam Nuemann, the former head of WeWork.  Why trading carbon offsets via Web3 may work, "Carbon offsets are, after all, already digital goods that trade on markets—$84 billion worth in 2021, an increase of 60% from 2020." There are other companies already creating a carbon market, putting it on your radar as many travel brands deal with carbon offsets. 

• Six People You Meet in the Pandemic Workplace Two years of working from home has changed employees, workplace expert Dorie Clark categorizes workers into six buckets. A useful read that superficially helps to understand viewpoints from "Disoriented New Hires" to "Zest for Lifers," this article pretty much nails the main possibilities. 

• New look for conference rooms: NYT says conference rooms are changing in 4 major ways: new shapes and sizes, new looks (more soft furnishings), new locations, and new tech.  Interesting for hotels to consider!

Women and business: 

• The childcare conundrum: How can companies ease working parents’ return to the office? McKinsey takes a deep dive into childcare issues that have surfaced over the pandemic. Facts: 69 percent of the women with children aged five and under who are currently looking for employment said they would be more likely to choose an employer that offered assistance with childcare expenses or provided access to on-site childcare. Find actionable tips your company can consider here.

• Moms are struggling with burnout, but is it more work to let dads help?  Almost half of today's mothers are the primary breadwinners but they also shoulder more of the mental load as the "default parent", the WSJ explores some tech options and conversations couples can be having to help with sharing responsibilities. 

• Lack of female representation across sectors is a glaring issue and keeps women from joining those companies according to new research by InHerSight. Read this for tips, including not just asking about DE&I plans, but what measurement goals are in place, as well as what the internal leadership pipeline — and development of that — looks like.

• Self-evaluations have a gender bias.  A new study reveals women and men describe the exact same performance differently, with men self-promoting more than women.  Eye-opening read!

• Why Many Women of Color Don’t Want to Return to the Office  A study of tech workers in the Harvard Business Review reveals new data, 81% of women of color said they experienced at least some racism while 90% said the same for sexism. “If you present yourself as too Latina or too Black in the workplace, that could be a turnoff for your white colleagues.”  

Travel news:

• Michele Allen, CFO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, was interviewed on Yahoo! Finance about financial results, travel's rebound, and how Wyndham is trying to get more women to get involved in hotel ownership.
• Report from Davos with Tony Capuano, Marriott CEO on CNBC From the famous economic summit, Capuano talks about pricing pressures, labor shortage, points, and the outlook for travel. Spoiler: it's positive!
• NFTs are being used to buy last-minute/ excess inventory at hotels.  WSJ reports on Pinktada, a new swap-style market where users can buy and trade room inventory using NFTs. 
• 5 Game-Changing New Hotel Brands Hospitality Design highlights brands with a focus on community, inclusivity, and flexibility and includes Caption by Hyatt in the round-up, which we covered in our interview with Crystal Venisse Thomas.

• Gay Travelers Gather at Disney World to Vacation and Make a Statement LGBT fans of the theme park are back in Orlando amid protests over a new, GOP-led law restricting school instruction on sexual orientation in Florida

On hertelier this week:

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. Lots of stories to share! 

• Secret Hertelier is baaack!  Can you guess which celebrity guest was behaving badly? Read about this Hollywood heavyweight and email me if you think you know who it is. I LOVE Secret Hertelier.  So fun!

• The struggle for workers is real in the UK, we chat with Kate Nicholls, head of UKHospitality, on what the industry is doing to attract more talent and why she is excited to be part of the upcoming International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum in London on June 30, 2022.

• Flexible Work Can Help Improve Gender Equality in Hotels According to a New Study by EHL.  A new report declares the trend of flexible working is not a "women's" issue, it is now mainstream and there are opportunities. 

• Do you struggle with "Impostor Syndrome"? Columnist Nancy Mendelson unpacks why this can be a good thing!

• Leading the way for women in Saudi Arabia: Maria Bou Eid, The House Hotel Jeddah City Yard Saudi Arabia is building up tourism as part of a massive economic development program, Vision 2030. Women are a big part of the changes.

• Back to Work After Baby: 5 Strategies for a Successful Return from Maternity Leave Worried about heading back to work with a new baby? Here's a helpful guide for new mothers by expert, Lori Mihalich-Levin, JD.

• 3 Behaviors to AVOID if you want to be an effective leader.  Here's what NOT to do!

• New Non-Profit to Educate on DEI This is really exciting, David Kong, Rachel Humphrey, and Lan Elliott have joined forces to create a platform for learning about DEI, through insightful interviews with industry leaders. They've launched with 12 videos, read more here!

The 44th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference is this week––June 5 - 7 in NYC! There are more women on panels than ever before, which is exciting to see!  If you're going, please email me with any highlights you'd love to share. We will be covering some highlights (remotely). 

FUN FACT: according to the WSJ, you can thank actor Cary Grant for that chocolate on your hotel pillow. As the story goes, in the 1950s he frequented the Mayfair Hotel in St. Louis where he’d sometimes use strategically placed sweets as a tool of seduction. The staff heard about and adopted the gesture (if not the intent), which caught on worldwide.

Are you still here? I'd love to hear from you. Why do you read hertelier and what would you like to see covered? Is there someone you'd like to suggest for a profile?  My goal in 2022 is to get to know more of our readers, just reply to this email. I am a real person 😃 

Have a great week! 

Em