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1. US Senate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
The U.S. Senate passed by a vote of 69 to 30 the $1 trillion infrastructure bill designed to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges as well as fund new climate resilience and broadband initiatives, according to the New York Times. It is the largest injection of federal capital into infrastructure projects for more than a decade.
The legislation, which had sufficient support from Democratic and Republican lawmakers, still faces a hurdle in the U.S. House of Representatives, where an influential group of Democrats has said they will not vote for the bill until the Senate passes a separate $3.5 trillion social policy bill through reconciliation. That could delay the infrastructure bill for weeks, if not months.
2. UK Government Called On To Pay For Travel COVID-19 Testing
In a news release, the World Travel & Tourism Council said the United Kingdom government should pay the costs of “hugely expensive and unnecessary PCR tests for fully jabbed citizens, which are deterring Britons from traveling.” The statement comes just after Sajid Javid, the U.K. Secretary of State for Health, asked the Competition & Markets Authority to investigate current practices of those administering the tests.
The council said that costs for the tests range from between £75 ($103.76) per person. For those who want the results within 90 minutes, the cost is as high as £400, a price the council said makes tests in the U.K. “among the costliest in Europe, partly due to the 20% [value-added tax] charge applied on top.”
3. Staff, Culture Have Increasing Role in Hotel Profitability
As the labor situation becomes more challenging — both in recruiting and retaining, and the costs inherent in those — many hotel company CEOs are looking at profitability through the prism of improved workplace culture and respect for staff, writes Hotel News Now’s Sean McCracken, reporting from the Americas Lodging Investment Summit.
Ray Bhai, CEO of IBF Hospitality, said “I have used a staffing agency more in the last four months than ever before. So we need to retain employees to cut down our costs. For some of our back-of-house roles like housekeeping, we’re at $20 to $22 an hour with base pay and what we pay staffing agencies.”
G6 Hospitality CEO Rob Palleschi said brands will have to work with owners to get more out of having fewer people on-property.
"It’s incumbent on our operators to manage and to be as flexible as possible and creative as possible,” he said.
4. Puerto Rico First US Market With Mandatory Vaccinations For Hotel Stays
As of Aug. 16, Puerto Rico will become the first U.S. market to require full vaccinations for all employees and guests at hotels and other accommodations options, including short-term rentals. Those not vaccinated must show a negative PCR or antigen test within 72 hours of the start of the visit.
In a statement, island officials said those staying longer than one week "must continue to present negative tests on a weekly basis. Those not vaccinated due to medical or religious reasons must provide proper documentation confirming this and are still required to present negative tests on a weekly basis.”
5. AHIP Revenue Closes In On 2019 Levels
Hotel real estate investment trust American Hotel Income Properties in its second quarter 2021 earnings report said the firm has surpassed most industry comparables, with average daily rate and revenue per available room metrics improving every month during the quarter, according to a news release.
The upticks resulted in revenue of $63.6 million in the second quarter, a year-over-year increase of 133.1%, and occupancy increased 101.7% to 70%.
“While our properties have yet to achieve pre-COVID revenues, they are close to 2019 same period cash flow levels due to the improved operating margins," AHIP CEO Jonathan Korol said in the report.