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5 Things To Know for March 7

Today's Headlines: Sunstone Board Appoints CFO Bryan Giglia to CEO; COVID-19 Death Toll Reaches 6 Million as Pandemic Begins Third Year; Companies Budget Employees’ Individual Travel Carbon Footprint; People Book Airbnb Reservations To Give Aid to Ukrainians; War in Ukraine Has US Travelers Rethinking Trips to Europe
A volunteer paints red hearts on the National COVID Memorial Wall at St. Thomas' Hospital in the United Kingdom to remember those who died of COVID-19. The official global death toll of COVID-19 has passed 6 million people. (Getty Images)
A volunteer paints red hearts on the National COVID Memorial Wall at St. Thomas' Hospital in the United Kingdom to remember those who died of COVID-19. The official global death toll of COVID-19 has passed 6 million people. (Getty Images)
Hotel News Now
March 7, 2022 | 3:42 P.M.

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1. Sunstone Board Appoints CFO Bryan Giglia to CEO

Real estate investment trust Sunstone Hotel Investors announced its board of directors appointed Chief Financial Officer Bryan Giglia as the company’s new CEO, according to a news release. The board and former CEO John Arabia reached a mutual agreement to separate in September 2021. Board Chairman Douglas Pasquale had served as the interim CEO since.

The board also appointed Chief Investment Officer Robert Springer the additional role of president. Aaron Reyes, senior vice president of finance and treasurer, was appointed to chief financial officer.

In a note to investors about the appointments, Rich Hightower, managing director of Evercore ISI, wrote, “Over the longer term, we think there is something to be said for maintaining the core structure of a management team which, during the time Arabia was at the helm, was able to upgrade the portfolio, re-engineer the balance sheet, and ultimately carry a consistent trading premium to most of its public peers. What is more, in the absence of achieving a valuation premium for whatever reason going forward, having [as analysts] known each of these individuals for a very long time, we can say with a straight face that we have confidence in their competence, integrity, and skill to ‘do the right thing’ at the proper moment in time.”

2. COVID-19 Death Toll Reaches 6 Million as Pandemic Begins Third Year

The global death toll of COVID-19 has passed 6 million people as the world enters its third year with the pandemic, the Associated Press reports from data recorded by Johns Hopkins University. Death rates are highest among people who have not been vaccinated against the virus.

“This is a disease of the unvaccinated — look what is happening in Hong Kong right now, the health system is being overwhelmed,” said Tikki Pang, co-chair of the Asian Pacific Immunization Coalition and the former director of research policy and cooperation with the World Health Organization. “The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population.”

Many nations are easing restrictions now as COVID-19 case numbers have been decreasing following a surge caused by the omicron variant, but several countries in the Western Pacific region are dealing with increasing numbers.

3. Companies Budget Employees’ Individual Travel Carbon Footprint

As more businesses recognize the importance of sustainability efforts, several companies have been rethinking how they budget employee travel. Instead of looking at it from a purely financial perspective, they are now considering the individual carbon footprint of employees’ work trips, reports HNN’s Terence Baker.

“One corporate procurer I spoke to recently has instigated in their company a more stringent approach — hotels, flights and car [rental] are displayed by their carbon use," said Paul Proctor, vice president, commercial, Europe for IHG Hotels & Resorts. "The traveler is then given a carbon budget for the year, and once it is consumed, then no more travel is allowed.

“In a post-pandemic environment where we are already more thoughtful about the purpose and return on investment of travel, this adds another layer in to the decision-making process for the traveler,” he said.

4. People Book Airbnb Reservations To Give Aid to Ukrainians

Airbnb hosts in Ukraine are seeing people from around the world booking reservations at their properties, but these “guests” have no intention of staying there. The reservations are meant only to provide financial assistance to besieged Ukrainian hosts during the Russian invasion, CNN reports. An Airbnb spokesman said people have booked more than 61,000 nights in Ukraine on March 2 and 3.

Volodymyr Bondarenko, who rents out a one-bedroom apartment in Kyiv, has received multiple bookings so far.

“More than 10 bookings came in today. This was surprising, it's very supportive at the moment,” Bondarenko, 36, told CNN. “I told many of my relatives and friends that I plan to use this money to help our people who need it at this time.”

5. War in Ukraine Has US Travelers Rethinking Trips to Europe

MMGY Travel Intelligence released a survey of American travelers who are planning a trip to Europe and what affect the war in Ukraine has on those plans. The survey found that 62% of U.S. travelers cited concerns over the war spreading to nearby countries as a factor affecting their plans to travel to Europe, twice as many as those who cited COVID-19.

The survey also found that 47% of U.S. travelers plan to wait and see what happens in Ukraine before making plans to visit Europe this year. Fifty percent said they were worried about delays and cancellations of flights, trains and cruises as well as border closures.

“Now is the time for travel providers to address this hesitancy around European travel by reminding consumers of flexible cancellation and rebooking policies,” MMGY Global CEO Clayton Reid said in the survey results. “Much like at the height of the omicron variant, we can’t predict how the situation may escalate, but travelers should feel confident in booking because of the flexible policies most airlines, hotels and [online travel agencies] introduced in response to COVID-19. It is also my belief that this hesitancy is short-lived and that prior to the peak travel season to Europe, sentiment will return to much more positive levels.”

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