Latest Hospitality and leisure industry News

Facing pressure from rights groups, World Bank suspends funding for Tanzania tourism project

Apr. 23, 2024 03:02 AM EDT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The World Bank has suspended funding for a tourism project in Tanzania that caused the suffering of tens of thousands of villagers, according to a U.S.-based rights group that has long urged the global lender to take such action. The World Bank's decision to...

A ban on single-use plastics takes effect in Hong Kong in a bid to reduce pollution

Apr. 22, 2024 06:59 AM EDT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong has long been a major producer and consumer of great food, and a great amount of plastic and Styrofoam to go with it. That’s going to change as new legislation aiming to stop the sale and distribution of Styrofoam products and single-use plastic cutlery...

Oregon lodge famously featured in 'The Shining' will reopen to guests after fire forced evacuations

Apr. 20, 2024 19:33 PM EDT

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's historic Timberline Lodge, which featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film “The Shining,” will reopen to guests Sunday after a fire that prompted evacuations but caused only minimal damage. The lodge said Saturday in a Facebook post that...

Firefighters douse a blaze at a historic Oregon hotel famously featured in 'The Shining'

Apr. 19, 2024 13:37 PM EDT

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) — Firefighters doused a late-night fire at Oregon's historic Timberline Lodge — featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film “The Shining” — before it caused significant damage. The fire Thursday night was confined to the roof and attic of the lodge,...

Not only New York casinos threaten Atlantic City. Developer predicts Meadowlands casino is coming

Apr. 18, 2024 13:28 PM EDT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City casinos are facing threats on multiple fronts from new competitors not just in New York, but from within their own state. That's not great news for a seaside resort in which the amount of money won from in-person gamblers continues to lag,...

Southern California city council gives a key approval for Disneyland expansion plan

Apr. 17, 2024 18:08 PM EDT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Visitors to Disney's California parks could one day walk through the snow-covered hamlet of Arendelle from “Frozen” or the bustling, critter-filled metropolis of “Zootopia” under a park expansion plan approved by the Anaheim City Council. Disney would...

New York competition, smoking, internet betting concerns roil US northeast's gambling market

Apr. 17, 2024 18:01 PM EDT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Casinos in the northeastern U.S. are dealing with numerous challenges as they brace for the arrival of new competitors in New York City. A potential smoking ban in Atlantic City, an ongoing debate over whether internet gambling hurts or helps the bottom...

Minnesota toddler dies after fall from South Dakota hotel window

Apr. 17, 2024 11:48 AM EDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Minnesota toddler who fell from a South Dakota hotel's third-floor window has died. Kathryn and Alex Hein of Lakefield, Minnesota, wrote in a Facebook post that their year-old son, Madden, died Monday, two days after falling at Club House Hotel &...

Don't let it flow: Tourists to Spain's Catalonia may soon see water restrictions in the dry season

Apr. 16, 2024 12:04 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s drought-stricken northeastern Catalonia is considering imposing water restrictions on tourists in the driest parts of the region if domestic consumption is not curtailed, the Catalan government said Tuesday. The restriction of 100 liters (26...

Retail sales surge 0.7% in March as Americans seem unfazed by higher prices with jobs plentiful

Apr. 15, 2024 10:24 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans boosted spending at a hotter-than-expected pace in March, underscoring how shoppers remain resilient despite inflationary pressures and other economic challenges. Retail sales rose 0.7% last month — almost double what economists had forecast — after...