The regime for hotel development adopted by Asheville, N.C., after a 17-month moratorium on new properties includes incentives for sustainability and community sensitivity. Local leaders applaud the voluntary measures, but the impact is in question inasmuch as many hotel firms already follow eco-friendly practices.

The African-American human resources director for First Hospitality Group asserts that increasing staff and management racial diversity requires creating a conducive workplace climate, not merely meeting numerical goals. "It means teaching people about cultures, differences and how to work together," Janice Parks says.

McDonald's has issued new standards to combat discrimination and harassment at both its company-owned restaurants and franchises that encompass retaliation, violence and harassment trainings, annual team surveys and a reporting system for grievances. "When we or our franchisees fall short, we must all have a system in place to address those shortfalls immediately," said CEO Chris Kempczinski.

The pandemic relief fund created by the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation was successful, in part, because it was transparent about how contributions were used, says co-founder John deBary. In this interview, deBary and executive Steve Ali discuss takeaways from the pandemic relief fund and how RWCF is applying those lessons to a new fund focused on racial justice in the restaurant industry.

Hersha Hospitality Management boosted its portfolio to 140 hotels with the addition of 25 properties comprising 4,000 rooms within the past year. Twenty institutional and long-term owners are in the fold, listing a wide variety of hotel types and price ranges.

The 461-room Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center has sold for $41.54 million, the largest sum paid for a hotel in the area since the start of the pandemic but a 57% plunge from the $96 million purchase price in 2016. HRDTC Hotel Owner LLC made the recent buy from CP Denver LLC.

Two casinos in Tasmania have temporarily closed after a cyberattack caused issues with slot machines and hotel booking systems. Although the threat has been contained, it is still unknown whether any financial data or customer information was compromised.

The North Carolina-based long-term lodging company stayAPT Suites has defied the pandemic with robust growth since its launch in January 2020, and plans 17 openings by the end of this year. CEO Gary DeLapp projects 100 corporate-owned and more than 200 franchised properties within five years.

Travel, hotel and restaurant leaders told a newly formed US Senate subcommittee on travel and tourism their industry could recover faster than generally projected if measures such as expedited vaccinations are put in place. "Notwithstanding these efforts, the travel and tourism industry and its workers have been hit disproportionately hard," Jorge Perez of MGM Resorts International said of federal relief packages.

UK-based private membership club Soho House reportedly has entered a confidential IPO filing on the New York Stock Exchange, valuing itself at more than $3 billion. It is believed the IPO could raise as much as $4 billion, which has 27 properties in cities across the globe, including the US.