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1. Federal Reserve Expected To Skip Rate Hike
The Federal Reserve is expected to skip a rate hike at today's meeting after raising interest rates "at the fastest pace in four decades" during the past 15 months, AP News reports. Leaving rates alone could allow time to examine the results of its moves to tame inflation. However, a rate hike could be likely at the next meeting in July.
"Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other top policymakers have also indicated that they want to assess how much a pullback in bank lending might be weakening the economy. Banks have been slowing their lending — and demand for loans has fallen — as interest rates have risen," the news outlet reports.
The 18 committee members are split between those who favor one or two more rate hikes and those who are in favor of leaving it alone for the next few months.
"This group is concerned that hiking too aggressively would heighten the risk of causing a deep recession," the news outlet reports.
2. SoCal Hotel Union Workers Seek Wage Increase
More than 15,000 hotel workers, including room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, front-desk agents and servers across 62 hotels in LA County approved a strike authorization to demand higher wages ahead of the busy summer travel season, NBC Los Angeles reports. The strike could happen on July Fourth weekend.
The union, Unite Here Local 11, is seeking an immediate $5 wage increase to keep up with higher housing costs. Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen told the news outlet it's not uncommon for luxury hotel rooms in Santa Monica go for $500 to $600 a night while workers make about $26 an hour — a wage he called "unjust."
Peter Hillen, who represents the Hotel Association of Los Angeles, described a potential strike as “self-centered” and “inappropriate,” noting that “hotels should not be held hostage over wages because it could hurt the entire community if hotels are forced to shut down due to a lack of workers,” the news outlet reports.
3. Kixby Hotel Owner Keeps Rich History Alive
The Kixby Hotel, which was previously branded as Hotel Metro and the Collingwood Hotel more than a century ago, is celebrating 120 years of rich history in the Herald Square neighborhood in New York City, Hotel News Now's Dana Miller reports.
The hotel is leaning into its anniversary with a “120 Days of Summer” package to offer guests accessible luxury from May 15 to Sept. 12. Perks include Friday room rates of $120, in-room goodies valued at $120, early check-in at 1:20 p.m. and some food and beverage items for $1.20, according to Kixby Hotel managing partner and co-owner Justin Arest.
“This idea is something we’ve always talked about, and trying to find ways to not only promote the property, not only make sure more people are aware of what we’re doing and hopefully wanting to experience it for themselves, but also to do things in clever ways at opportune times where they can experience the [food-and-beverage] offerings at even more of a reasonable rate,” he said.
4. India's Plans for Tourism Growth
As India has taken the title of the most populous nation in the world, many are eyeing whether it will surpass China's influence on the world, including in tourism, CNN reports. Indians are expected to spend more than $42 billion per year on outbound travel by 2024, a recent report notes.
Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of travel and bookings website Agoda, said India is "the biggest growing outbound destination" and no other nation's tourism sector is growing as fast as India's.
"Experts say much of India’s outbound growth trajectory is being driven by improvements in infrastructure and an expansion in its aviation sector," CNN reports. The Indian government announced this year it plans to spend 980 billion rupees [$11.9 billion] by 2025 on constructing and modernizing airports within the country, Reuters reports.
5. Airlines Face Shortage of New Planes
Airlines including Southwest, JetBlue and American are facing a shortage of new airplanes as Airbus and Boeing struggle to keep up with demand amid supply-chain issues. As a result, consumers could be paying higher airfares and airlines might not be able to increase flight schedules, The Street reports.
"It doesn't help if 299 of your suppliers are doing great and one isn't," McKinsey Partner Vik Krishnan told Travel Weekly. "It's not like you can send a plane out with a few parts missing. Unfortunately, with a supply chain, the longest pole in the tent is that one supplier that is unable to meet a production rate ramp."