Hello Round-Up Readers!

College drop off complete!  Although bittersweet, as I will miss my daughter, I’m happy for her to see her friends and start her sophomore year.

Made a quick stop in New York City to see sponsor Loews Hotels' stunning new offices and meet with SVP of Brand & Comms, Sarah Murov. Ran all over the city to visit with journalist Joanne Chen, PR pros Vickie de Falco of Redpoint PR, Maria Andriano and our Mr July, ally Scott Mayerowitz! One day in NYC is not enough, but I'll be back soon! We are in the planning stages for our first stateside hertelier "Morning Shift" event in October––and looking for a partner venue, please reach out if your hotel might be interested!

Am now enjoying a few days with family in the Hamptons, mainly playing cards and going to the beach. I also tried Pickle Ball for the first time––so fun! This morning I am meeting with hertelier fan, legendary travel industry leader and my former Loews boss, Jon Tisch!

Celebrate women in travel who inspire you with the GBTA WINiT Awards! Nominate a friend or colleague! Deadline is August 31, there are lots of categories from rising star to innovators and legends. Find out more here. This is a great way to recognize women for their work and leadership.

How to help Maui. The devastation from the Maui wildfires is heartbreaking. Since last week the death toll has risen to 114, and 1,000 people remain missing in this beloved tourism destination. Find details on how you can help from Kind Traveler.

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

 Business, Women, and Random Trends:
 

• Gender parity offers hope in ‘otherwise bleak landscape’ for corporate social goals, as S&P projects women will be 50% of leadership by 2030 S&P’s surprising finding is a rare bright spot in a field littered by forgotten corporate promises, read more in Yahoo Finance.
   

•  Worrying About Money is the Great Equalizer in America In a nationwide survey of over 1,000 objectively wealthy Americans — defined in this case as making at least $175,000 a year, roughly the amount required to crack the top 10% of US tax filers — a full quarter told us they were either “very poor,” “poor,” or “getting by but things are tight.” Read more in Bloomberg.
   

• Most women believe they’d be more productive if they had a 4-day working week Trials of a four-day working week in the UK saw no drop in productivity – and in some cases, even a rise – and research suggests that people get more done when their hours are reduced. Now, a poll from Glassdoor backs up this idea, finding that the majority of workers believe they would be more productive if their company implemented a four-day work week. Read more in Stylist.

Travel & Hospitality:
 

• Luxury Sector Shows No Signs of Slowing Virtuoso, the largest consortia of luxury travel advisors and hotel partners, held their annual conference in Las Vegas this week. Virtuoso’s year-to-date global sales have surpassed those of 2022 for the same January-to-June timeframe by 37 percent and are up 56 percent over the “high-water mark” set in 2019. Read more in Luxury Travel Advisor. I also really enjoyed this article by attendee Vanessa McGovern, about maximizing professional conferences.
   

• What Happens After a Travel Destination Enters the Hollywood Spotlight? An interesting take on set-jetting by Thrillist writer Jake Emin, who looks at how destinations have managed with sudden pop culture fame and cope with over-tourism.
   

• A Wealthy Teenager, a 5-Star Hotel and a Bizarre Defamation Fight

  A teenager turned away by a bar in one of Manhattan’s fanciest hotels started a campaign to sully its reputation, a lawsuit says. The hotel is suing him for defamation, turning into a strange situation for The Mark.
   

• Hotel Revenue Managers Prioritize Ancillary Revenues, Taking Risks To Drive Profitability Getting buy-in from other Departments Encourages Team Mindset, reports Costar from the recent Hotel Data Conference.

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. 
 

• Better Ways to Welcome Black Travelers: Insights from Black Travel Summit Founder, Anita Francois Tracing the legacy of bias, Anita Francois offers tips for inciting change, and harnessing the power of the Black travel market.
   

• Barbie’s 5 Lessons on Personal Evolution The unexpected brilliance of the Barbie movie! Contributor Rachel Vandenberg draws 5 lessons for her own life, and yours.
   

• The Future is Now: 5 Innovations in Customer Experience You Didn't See Coming for Hospitality You read it here first! Five unexpected innovations revolutionizing personalized and immersive guest interactions in hospitality by contributors Anton Safonov and Michelle Session.
   

• Has integrity gone out with the trash? Columnist Nancy Mendelson reflects on integrity after a recent interaction with her local trash collectors.

Listen UP! Podcasts to Download

• The Retrievals A five part series by the New York Times and Serial about the TRUE story of women who were patients at the Yale Fertility Clinic that were being gaslighted into thinking they were getting anesthesia during egg retrievals when, in fact, they were not. Horrific and complicated. Extremely compelling listening and so important for women to know that even highly regarded medical institutions can be negligent!

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Thank you for reading! Have a great week!

Em