Dear Round-Up Readers,

Big weekend!  We're celebrating Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the US––a Federal Holiday for the first time this year. Learn more about the significance from CNN, where the author, Peniel Joseph, notes that "virtually overnight, the law establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day transformed this day from a Texas-based African American celebration into a national symbol of the enduring need to confront a long-denied history of racial slavery and its afterlife."  

Today is also Father's Day!  With both holidays in mind, it seems appropriate to have a conversation about allyship and DEI, see more below.  Now, on to the week's news...

Business News:

• Recession Fears: More than 60% of CEOs expect a recession in their geographic region in the next 12 to 18 months, according to a survey of 750 CEOs and other C-suite executives released Friday by the Conference Board, a business research firm. Many people (not just CEOs) are already starting to feel the pinch, according to NYTimes, signs of financial stress are surfacing as prices rise and pandemic savings have dwindled.

Women, business, life, and work: 

• When Dads Do What Moms Do: The Cut makes a case for mandated paternity leave. Excellent read. 

• Father Knows Best: round-up of fatherly life advice from the team at Katie Couric Media, maybe you've heard slogans like "your health is wealth" and "nothing good happens after midnight," but never hurts to be reminded!  

• Father's Day can also be a difficult holiday, if this applies to you, find solace in this helpful article from the NYTimes with tips for coping with loss or regrets.

• The Truth About High Achievers: Many Struggle to Find their Passion.  "Sampling opens the door to serendipity," advises "Grit" author Angela Duckworth. 

• Lizzo gives a Masterclass in How to Make an Apology: if you missed it this week, pop star Lizzo was called out for using the word "spaz" in a song. What did she do?  She admitted her ignorance, apologized, and changed the lyric.  "Let me make one thing clear, I never want to promote derogatory language."

• How Not to Make the Same Mistake Twice Loved this article by psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman about how glossing over mistakes and the bad feelings they create in an effort to move on may lead us to end up in the same situation again.  She cites research about how "leaning into mistakes" offers better learning and motivates people to make smarter choices the next time.  

Travel & Hospitality news:

• Choice Hotels Buys Radisson Americas for $675 million Big news - Choice announced a sizeable acquisition––of Radisson Hotels in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean––9 new brands and 624 hotels with more than 68,000 rooms. Analysts give it a thumbs up for a few reasons: expansion into key locations, addition of brands in upscale and upper-midscale segments, and a potential extra 10 million loyalty club members. 
• Concerns about the economy starting to influence travel decisions, but unevenly. Data from Skift US travel tracker in May show strong travel plans for summer but worries "about an economic crisis as well as personal financial situations reached the highest since March/April 2020." When asked specifically about future travel plans, nearly 70 percent of surveyed Americans cited higher travel prices. Washington Post headline "Americans starting to pull back on travel and restaurants" confirms a move toward reduced spending on services. However, new data from MMGY shows travelers with HHI of over $100K have not canceled or delayed travel plans and have, in fact, increased their expected spend per trip to a mean of $3,150, more than 10% more than last year’s $2,829.
• Flight cancellations: labor shortages at airports are causing cancellations in the UK. In the US severe weather has also caused thousands of flight cancellations this weekend.
• New "Report Card" on Diversity In Travel: Black Travel Alliance founder Martinique Lewis has released a follow-up to her 2019 industry-wide travel report card. Bottom line: she details lots of room for improvement in Conde Nast Traveler. 
• Major Floods Close Yellowstone: A "once in 500-year event" CNN and the Washington Post have excellent coverage of the flooding which caused the river that runs through Yellowstone to rise six feet, surpassing the previous highwater mark set in 1918, resulting in severe damage and impacting busy summer tourism. 
• Tourism Conundrum in Barcelona: Pre-COVID, Barcelona welcomed some 30 million visitors annually. The pandemic offered a reprieve to local residents and improved quality of life. Now the city is looking at ways to gently pull back on tourism without sacrificing too much of the revenue it brings. 
• Gun Violence Creates a Troubling New Reality for U.S. Tourism’s Hard Sell Skift takes a dive into how hate crimes and mass shootings are impacting international travel demand.
• Hotel Marketing 2.0 A useful summary in HospitalityNet of the big changes that have happened to hotel marketing as a result of the pandemic by Allison Handy, CCO of Prism Hotels & Resorts. From property-level marketing shifting to the "top of the funnel" to capturing more ancillary spending and staffing up, this overview of the key shifts is worth a read!

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! 

• Allyship and Opportunities with Three Hotel Industry Leaders (and Fathers) on Father's Day. In honor of Father’s Day, we’ve flipped the script and reached out to three hoteliers and fathers to have a conversation about allyship.

• How to Get Out of Your Own Way Ever have someone say to you "if only you'd get out of your own way..."? Columnist Nancy Mendelson unpacks this unhelpful comment and offers tips!

• Raising the Roof for Women: Red Roof® Celebrates Women-Owned Hotels at 4th Annual Leadership Forum Key takeaways from the annual conference.

LISTEN UP:

• Loved the "No Vacancy Live" interview with Joy Rothschild, Chief Human Resources Officer, Omni Hotels. Joy shares innovative ideas on how Omni is recruiting, hiring, and keeping staff amid the tight labor market.  Topics: recruiting from abroad, "one and done" offers, and flextime that works. 40 minutes well spent!
• Reshma Saujani on Diary of a CEO, this is a long one but totally WORTH IT!  Reshma is the founder of Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms, and the author of a new book Pay Up.  Her mission is to fix the system––not women––so many great moments in this interview.  It is 1 hour 20 minutes, so put it on and go for a walk, her personal journey and societal aspirations are very inspiring.  

Back to the topic of Father's Day, what is your favorite "Dad Joke"?  A few of mine:

• What happens when it rains cats and dogs? You have to be careful not to step in a poodle.
• Why can’t a leopard hide? Because he’s always spotted.
• What do you call a typo on a headstone? A grave mistake.
• Which bear is the most condescending? A pan-duh. 

Read more jokes here, here, and here!  Hope they make you smile, please send me your favorite! 

Have a great week! 

Em