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1. IHG Hack Still Ongoing
IHG Hotels & Resorts announced sections of its technology systems and booking engines have been hacked in an ongoing breach, according to a note published on its website from Nicolette Henfrey, the firm’s executive vice president, general counsel and company secretary. According to website loyaltylobby.com, IHG’s website and booking functions first went down at 4 p.m. GMT on Sunday, Sept. 4.
In the note, IHG said its “booking channels and other applications have been significantly disrupted since yesterday, and this is ongoing.” The British firm added that it is working to restore all systems as soon as possible and to assess the nature, extent and impact of the incident.
2. Full-Scale Change in UK Government
The first day of business for new United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss resulted in a full-scale change in the makeup of the cabinet, with Kwasi Kwarteng being appointed in the role of chancellor of the exchequer, and James Cleverly moving from secretary of education into Truss’ former role of foreign secretary. Some political commentators have noted the complete absence of supporters of former chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, who was Truss’s opponent in the final round of votes to elect the new leader.
In her debut speech as PM, Truss said her government would “deal hands-on with the energy crisis caused by (Vladimir) Putin’s war.” Her words come amid warnings from insolvency advisory Red Flag Alert that tens of thousands of businesses are at risk of going under without government support because of soaring energy bills, according to the BBC.
3. US Labor Department Proposes Tightening of Franchisor Responsibility
The U.S. Department of Labor has hinted it will tighten rules that require franchisors to be responsible for certain actions of their franchisees — if, for example, franchisees are found in violation of labor practices. Current rules only make the franchisor responsible if it is the franchisor that directly instigates rules pertaining to the franchisee’s employees.
Under the proposals governing so-called “joint-employer” status, the National Labor Relations Board could hold the franchisor responsible if, as an example, “franchisees fired workers who tried to unionize, even if the parent company exercised only indirect control over the workers,” according to The New York Times.
4. US Top 25 Markets Post Outsize Recovery From Pandemic Lows
Hotel demand in the top 25 markets in the U.S. fell to the lowest levels during the COVID-19 crisis, but some of those markets have since recovered strongly amid pent-up travel demand and soaring average daily rates, according to STR’s regional sales manager Elyse Kirby at the 2022 Hotel Data Conference.
Kirby said revenue per available room growth is quickly rebounding in the top 25 markets, particularly those that host both business and leisure demand, writes Hotel News Now’s Sean McCracken. Among those top markets, Miami has led the way in rate growth, surpassing 2019 levels.
5. Bespoke Appoints Chief Operating Officer
Bespoke Hotels, the U.K.’s largest operator of independent hotels by hotel count with more than 100 properties, has announced its new chief operating officer as Richard Grove, according to boutique news website The Caterer..
For the the past seven years, Grove has been a general manager at the group, running the 80-room Chester Grosvenor Hotel, which opened in 1865 in Chester, an English city in Cheshire founded by the Romans in the 1st Century AD.