Dear Round-Up Readers,

In the wake of last week's bombshell leak of a draft opinion that the US Supreme Court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending a woman's right to an abortion, Senate Democrats forced a vote on Wednesday to try and codify the ruling. Unfortunately, the legislation failed to pass in the Senate 49-51 (60 votes are required.) Democrats are now scrambling, lots of protests happening across America, and it may help shift the midterm elections in November, but that is a ways off, and the Supreme Court decision seems to be slated for the end of June. This whole newsletter could be linked to this topic, instead here are just three: 

• Author of The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel set in a strongly patriarchal, white supremacist, totalitarian theonomic state, Margaret Atwood writes in The Atlantic, "I thought I was writing fiction in The Handmaid’s Tale...If Justice Alito wants you to be governed by the laws of the 17th century, you should take a close look at that century. Is that when you want to live?" 
• The ACLU offers Six Ways to Join the Fight for Abortion Rights
• Also, love this cute 1973 t-shirt that supports National Institute for Reproductive Health!

The weather has been nice in London, so I've suggested a few podcasts below in LISTEN UP, but this week also marks the fact that the number of known deaths from COVID will reach one million in the US.  In travel, we are naturally eager to move past the pandemic, but I urge you to listen to this podcast from the NYT where relatives reflect on the people who have been lost.

Business News: 

• Inflation sucks: NYT interviews different shoppers from around the US on how they are changing habits to save cash (store-hopping, coupon cutting, and just cutting back).
• And the concentration of wealth is accelerating, which is concerning and worth noting.  The median pay package for chief executives of the biggest U.S. companies reached $14.7 million in 2021 and three gigantic American asset management firms — BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — control much of the global economy. BlackRock manages nearly $10 trillion in investments. Vanguard has $8 trillion, and State Street has $4 trillion. Their combined $22 trillion in managed assets is the equivalent of more than half of the combined value of all shares for companies in the S&P 500 (about $38 trillion).
• WOODn't it be nice...a look at the new trend of using "mass timber" a kind of wood instead of steel and concrete, which is a more sustainable option in the construction of high-rise buildings.

Women, business, and personal growth: 

• Working Moms Need Childcare Support: a new survey by McKinsey and the Marshall Plan for Moms shows most salaried and hourly workers do not have access to childcare benefits.  As President Biden's pared-back infrastructure plan didn't include childcare support, it is up to the private sector. “Companies are scrambling for talent,” said Reshma Saujani, who founded Marshall Plan for Moms and Girls Who Code, a nonprofit aimed at closing the gender gap in tech. “Our report shows that you can attract, retain and advance women in the workforce only through the provision of offering child care benefits.”  There is an opportunity here for hotel companies to step up!  Read our survey of new mothers, the struggle is real.
• 8 Moms from McKinsey reflect on what it means to be a working mother (from Mother's Day) touching on various themes from resilience to being a role model, with a global perspective. 
• 15 Ways Executive Women Can Help Other Women Move Into The C-Suite: Members of the Forbes Coaches Council offer up a great summary of tactics to help each other and create change within organizations. 
• There is a right way to take a mental health day. "With workplace burnout at high levels, nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers say they would take a day off from work for mental health now, compared with 45% before the pandemic, according to a February survey by LinkedIn." Here you go!

Travel news from the week:

• Business Travel Rebounds as Execs Choose (Real) Face Time Over Zoom: Read more in Bloomberg and Skift where Tyler Morse of MCR Hotels and Steve Hafner, the Kayak CEO, predicted that business travel levels will return to pre-covid norms.  Meanwhile, airline bookings dropped 17% last month in the US as prices rose according to CNBC, however, demand remains above 2019. 

• Affluent leisure travel is set to beat 2019, according to a new survey by Luxury Travel Advisor.  "clients are upgrading their travel to new levels, spending more, using private air and staying longer."

• ForWard: ALHA hosted their sold-out conference for women this week in Chicago, we will cover in more detail soon, but here is a video from AHLA's Chip Rogers about how you can get involved in the Ambassador Program. 

• The Standard CEO Amber Asher on why making hotels a part of the community is the winning formula, “We want the local community to feel at home in our spaces as much as the traveler (who’s) checking out New York for the first time,” she tells Skift. 

• IHIF, the investment conference in Berlin, was packed with more than 2,300 people including me!  The theme was People, Planet, Profit, and here is a recap. In general, the mood was very upbeat and there was lots of talk about ESG, alternative accommodation and the rise of all-inclusives, smarter ways to deploy technology, and other trends. 

• 8 Trends Driving Hotel Operations: sustainability, digital transition, data fluidity, intermodality, hybridity, agile working places, regional realignment, and fragmentation. "Overarching all these themes we are going to see a big re-engagement with the customer this year, both through the use of technology in terms of marketing, personalized offers, and driving loyalty via the evolution of Customer Data Platforms and in renewed interest and appreciation in direct bookings and an increasing crossover between leisure and business travel. Segmentation as we know it is now out of the window. The customer sits in a segment of one," read more here. 

• F&B: London vs NYC in restaurant rebound post-covid.  The Spectator gives London the prize for restaurant rebound post-covid  in an essay:  "New York has become the city that never eats."

• Why Dessert Will Matter in 2050: in the "Future of Everything" WSJ interviews successful baker Christina Tossi of Milk Bar.

• Beach Bots?  Have you seen robots that clean up beaches? I love the idea of clean beaches, but people can also just pick up their own litter.  Yay or nay on the bots?

• World's Longest Suspension Bridge opens in the Czech Republic Would you cross 721-meter-long-span (2,365 feet) bridge?

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! 

• A Clear Vision: Crystal Vinisse Thomas, Vice President and Global Brand Leader, Hyatt's Lifestyle & Luxury Brands No surprise she's named Crystal! We chat about her clear vision of the brands she’s helped create and her impressive career journey.

• What to do when you're the only woman on a panel: I panicked about being part of an all-male panel at IHIF, which made me think it would be a good article.  I turned to experts, Gilda Perez-Alvarado of JLL, Peggy Berg of the Castell Project, and Nancy Medoff, author of the book "Unmute Yourself, Speak Up to Speak Out." 
• Mother-Daughter Duo: Nanci & Mary Jane Reilly The second in a series of interviews in May about working with family, we chat with Nanci and Mary Jane Reilly of Reilly Resort Representatives about building their travel business.

• SHaDPitch 2022:  we chat with $50K "Today's Woman" winners Glow Investing about their experience. Love that the competition has grown to include mid-career women!

• 5 Signs You Might Be an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) Have people ever told you, "you're too sensitive"? Apparently, HSP is a thing and this week columnist Nancy Mendelson unpacks it.

• F&Be: Inside In-Room Dining with Nga Ly-Henschen, Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Nga fell into hospitality while studying microbiology, read about her journey from science to service!

LISTEN UP: here are some podcasts I've enjoyed

• Trina Notman, who we interviewed about speaking out against sexist remarks at a tourism conference, sheds even more light on her experience in the Top Floor podcast with Susan Barry. 
• GM of the Royal Lancaster London, Sally Beck, speaks to Adele Gutman about how she took her hotel from #272 in London on TripAdvisor to #3 in all of England! 
• JLL Hotels started a new podcast, "Where We Stay," and in the first episode they offer up a current state of the market, which was really useful.  
• If you're wondering what is up with Elon Musk and Twitter, listen to Pivot.

Mark Your Calendar & Sign UP! 

• Last chance!!  Happening this week!  Women in Travel Thrive "Day of Impact"  "better together" on May 17 and on May 18.  Click for more info but on May 18, I'll be with Deli Moussavi, social and emotional resilience expert will host a workshop "How Can We THRIVE in the Midst of Relentless Change, Stay Centered, and Build Emotional Resilience Daily?"  Sign up for both, FREE.  Hope to see you there!

• International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum 2022 (IWTTF 2022) is taking place in London on June 30, 2022. More to come on this amazing day, but SIGN UP now as there are only 100 places. I'll be hosting a panel on "why we need women to lead in turbulent times,"  with Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, Dr Susanne Etti, Global Environmental Impact Leader, Intrepid Travel, and Jo Rzymowska, President & Managing Director, EMEA for Celebrity Cruises. 

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