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After more than two years of shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reports Japan is reopening to visa-free international travel this week, but hoteliers in the country are now facing an obstacle now familiar to hoteliers across the globe: staffing shortages.

With the yen sitting at a 24-year low, government officials are hopeful for an economic boost from tourism.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida "said last week the government is aiming to attract 5 trillion yen ($34.5 billion) in annual tourist spending," according to the news agency. "But that goal may be too ambitious for a sector that has atrophied during the pandemic. Hotel employment slumped 22% between 2019 and 2021, according to government data."

Market research firm Teikoku Databank announced 73% of hotels in the country were short on staff in August, compared to 27% during the same period in 2021.

Inflation has been a double-edged sword for many big businesses, as the current economic environment allowed them to increase prices with little consumer pushback, but increasing costs are putting a dent in corporate profits, the Wall Street Journal reports.

This might ultimately be a win for businesses, the newspaper reports, as prices tend not to go back down after going up, and the hit to corporate profits comes after multiple quarters of record highs.

Analysts still expect a rough third quarter earnings season.

“It might be a tough quarter for margins,” JPMorgan chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli told the newspaper. “I wouldn’t expect a big margin squeeze, but I think it’s going to be tough to expand margins from here.”

Hoteliers are expecting salespeople to lead the way for a potential business travel comeback, while other segments like consultants or accountants could continue to lag as more companies lean on teleconferencing in lieu of traditional travel.

Speaking at the Lodging Industry Investment Council meeting during the 2022 Lodging Conference, Mike DeNicola, principal at EMA Lodging, said he's seen the lag in business travel firsthand at their property near USAA headquarters in San Antonio.

"You'd have the accounting consulting firms come in to USAA, and basically be there for four days during the week, go home for the weekend, come back the next four days, and they'd be there for months at a time," he said. "To us, that was business transient [demand]. It really was project business, but was recorded as business transient. That business is not back yet, and it's not back anywhere because nobody's in the office long enough. You're not going to have [PwC] come into your office, and the people aren't there to work with. That's still a huge segment."

Meanwhile, the Global Business Travel Association released new research showing domestic business travel is back to 63% of pre-pandemic volume and international travel is back to 50%.

The Guardian reports Claridge's — a 220-year-old luxury hotel in London — is embroiled in controversy related to owners Maybourne Hotel Group claiming 12 million pounds sterling ($13.3 million) to pay for furloughed staff while at the same time continuing on an 800-million pounds renovation of the company's four properties.

Maybourne is an investment vehicle controlled by Qatari aristocracy, according to the newspaper, and is in the midst of a legal battle related to the renovation of the historic Claridge's that now involves Credit Suisse.

"Its ultimate beneficial owners are the former emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, sometimes known as HBK, and the businessman and former prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani (HBJ), who together have masterminded Qatar’s investment in the UK, including deals to buy Harrods and the financing of the Shard," the newspaper reports. "HBJ made headlines recently when the Sunday Times revealed that he had given €3m (£2.6m), including cash stuffed into a Fortnum & Mason bag, to King Charles – then the Prince of Wales – for his charity. The cash was handed over in three lots between 2011 and 2015."

The owners of Hotel Chelsea in New York secured a legal win against the city when a judge denied the city's motion to dismiss a lawsuit about a stop-work order for renovations on the historic property, The Real Deal reports. The ownership group reports the delay cost them $100 million in revenue.

The property sold in 2016 for $250 million, and the new ownership group of Ira Drukier, Richard Born and Sean MacPherson invested more than $200 million over the two years following the deal. But work was halted in November 2018 when the building was reclassified as a "single-room occupancy multiple dwelling," opening the door to a battle between owners and some long-term tenants.

"The hotel has frequently come into conflict with a group of about 50 long-term tenants who were allowed to live there at low rents under the hotel’s previous manager, Stanley Bard," the news outlet reports. "Some of the tenants complained to the city about the constant construction, but most supported the plans, according to the lawsuit."

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