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1. Another fire breaks out in Southern California
More than 50,000 people were put under evacuation orders or warnings in Southern California after another fire broke out late Wednesday morning near the Castaic Lake, the Associated Press reports. The Hughes Fire charred about 16 square miles of trees.
As of press time, the fire has been 14% contained. The region is under a red flag warning for critical fire risk, but winds are not as fast as they were when it initially broke out.
“The situation that we’re in today is very different from the situation we were in 16 days ago,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday evening.
2. Las Vegas hotel workers union reaches deal with casino
The Culinary Workers Union, which represents Las Vegas hotel workers, reached a five-year deal for about 700 employees at Virgin Hotels near the Las Vegas Strip, the Associated Press reports. This ends the 69-day strike that began on Nov. 15.
In the new deal, the workers are likely to have gotten a similar raise as other union members received over the past year, which includes a 32% increase in wages over the life of the deal.
3. New Orleans eyes Super Bowl records for hotel performance
Las Vegas hotels smashed average daily rate records by a Super Bowl host market last year, but New Orleans may rival those numbers when it hosts Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, HNN reports.
About 66% of New Orleans' total hotel room inventory is in the central business district and French Quarter submarket, meaning roughly two-thirds of the city's hotel inventory is near the Caesars Superdome.
"New Orleans has the benefit of being more constrained. Unlike a Miami, where the inventory is dispersed more geographically at the larger scale, New Orleans is more compressed," said Lior Sekler, chief commercial officer at New Orleans-based hotel management company HRI Hospitality. "With the compression, organically and naturally, the city is able to drive higher rates."
4. Nepal increases fees for Everest climbers
Starting in September, people seeking to climb Mount Everest will face a $15,000 fee during the peak season of April to May — a 36% increase from $11,000, BBC News reports. Fees will rise by the same percentage in non-peak seasons, which translates to $7,500 from September to November and $3,750 from December to February.
Mountain climbing and trekking contributes more than 4% to Nepal's economy. The country's government is often criticized for allowing too many climbers on Mount Everest, BBC reports.
"The royalty [permit fees] had not been reviewed for a long time," Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general of the Department of Tourism, told Reuters. "We have updated them now."
5. CDL makes offer for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels' New Zealand division
Singapore-based City Developments Limited has made an offer via its New Zealand subsidiary to acquire all the remaining shares in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand for 57.3 million New Zealand dollars ($32.5 million), HNN's Terence Baker reports.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has been a subsidiary of CDL since October 2019, when CDL acquired about 90% of its shares. CDL plans to delist Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand if it is successful in acquiring the remaining shares.