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1. UK Minimum Wage Increases at Twice the Rate of Inflation
The United Kingdom government announced a 6.6% increase in minimum wage, known as the National Living Wage, the BBC reports. The increase is more than twice the current 3.1% rate of inflation, raising the amount to 9.50 pounds sterling ($13.10) per hour, paid to those eligible aged 23 and older. The government is also increasing the National Minimum Wage paid to those younger than 23 by approximately 9% to 9.18 pounds sterling per hour.
Emma McClarkin, CEO of the British Beer & Pub Association, told the news outlet that while employees would welcome the increase, the changes were a “further cost increase for pubs who are still struggling to recover and face an uncertain future.”
2. Premier Inn Firm Moves Up Predicted RevPAR Recovery by One Year
Executives at U.K.-based Whitbread PLC, owners of the Premier Inn brand, said during the company's half-year earnings results that they expect revenue per available room recovery to get back to 2019 levels in 2022, not in 2023 as its previous guidance suggested, writes Hotel News Now’s Terence Baker.
Whitbread CEO Alison Brittain said she is confident of market recovery and her firm’s share of that recovery going forward. The firm saw losses before taxes of 56.6 million pounds sterling compared with a loss of 367.4 million pounds sterling for the same period in 2020 and a gain of 235.6 million pounds sterling in the same period in 2019.
3. Biden Ratifies Vaccination-Based Air Entry Policy
U.S. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation that the U.S. will on Nov. 8 move away from its country-by-country COVID-19 restrictions policy to one that “relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States.” The proclamation states that as of Oct. 24 "29 countries have a COVID-19 vaccination rate higher than 70%, [and] many countries are making efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccination for their populations.”
The news is welcome to airline, hotel and hospitality groups. Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy at the U.S. Travel Association, said the announcement “provides much-needed clarity for planning. We are grateful this additional detail has been made available as we move to reopening to fully vaccinated international travelers, and we look forward to similar guidance in coming days for those qualified visitors who plan to enter via our northern and southern land borders as well.”
4. Grupo Posadas Finalizes Restructure Following Chapter 11 Petitions
Mexican hotel group Grupo Posadas reports it has received the necessary support from holders of its 7.875% senior notes to help reduce the company's debt service obligations, according to a news release. The notes were previously due in 2022, but their maturation has been extended by five-and-a-half years through financial restructuring. The new structure will “prioritize the use of cash for operating activities to preserve jobs and help maintain the high quality for which its hotels are known.”
Grupo Posadas, along with a subsidiary, began "'pre-packaged' in-court restructuring proceedings” in the U.S. by filing voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and can take about 60 days, the release states.
“Appropriately capitalized to meet our go-forward business needs and open exciting new properties as tourism further rebounds, Grupo Posadas will be well-positioned to continue operating with the highest standards and remain the country's leading hotel operator," CEO José Carlos Azcárraga said in the release.
5. Scotland’s Hospitality COVID-19 Passport 'Unmitigated Disaster'
The Scottish Hospitality Group has branded the Scottish government’s first week and weekend of implementation of its “vaccine passport” to legally enter nightclubs and large events as “an unmitigated disaster” and is asking elected leaders to scrap the arrangement immediately, according to The Daily Record.
The group said some venues saw a drop of 40% in patronage and that staff trying to enforce the regulations have met with “intolerable levels of abuse.”
The passports show venues that the holders have received both doses of an accepted vaccine. The program was first introduced on Oct. 1 but was sidelined for almost three weeks due to criticism from business leaders.