Latest Hospitality and leisure industry News
The Lahaina fire worsened Maui's housing shortage. Now officials eye limiting tourist Airbnb rentals
HONOLULU (AP) — Alicia Humiston bought her condo in Lahaina after she visited Maui and fell for its rainforests, lava fields and the whales that gather offshore. She travels there about three times a year and rents out her unit for short periods when she's not in Hawaii. “Maui...
Illinois may soon return land the US stole from a Prairie Band Potawatomi chief 175 years ago
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Some 175 years after the U.S. government stole land from the chief of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation while he was away visiting relatives, Illinois may soon return it to the tribe. Nothing ever changed the 1829 treaty that Chief Shab-eh-nay signed with...
AmEx buys dining reservation company Tock from Squarespace for $400M
NEW YORK (AP) — American Express will acquire the dining reservation and event management platform Tock from Squarespace for $400 million cash. AmEx began making acquisitions in the dining and event space with its purchase of Resy five years ago, giving cardmembers access to...
Expanded Kentucky Bourbon Trail to feature both age-old distilleries and relative newcomers
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is maturing, like the fine whiskeys it showcases. A new-look Bourbon Trail unveiled Thursday will lead visitors to large and small distilleries alike, linking relative newcomers and age-old brands in a collective strategy to build...
Swiss central bank cuts its main interest rate by 1/4 point, citing easing inflationary pressures
GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss National Bank said Thursday it has lowered its main policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing a drop in “underlying inflationary pressure” despite an uptick in some costs like rents, tourism services and oil products. The central bank...
McDonald's is ending its test run of AI-powered drive-thrus with IBM
NEW YORK (AP) — Ever get your McDonald's order mixed up at an AI-powered drive-thru? The experiment behind the fast food giant's current automated order taker will soon be coming to a close. McDonald's confirmed Monday that it decided to end a global partnership with IBM, which has...
New Jersey casino and sports betting revenue was nearly $510 million in May, up 8.3%
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's casinos, horse tracks that take sports bets and their online partners won nearly $510 million from gamblers in May, an increase of 8.3% from a year earlier, according to figures released Friday by state gambling regulators. Internet gambling...
Modest needs? Charity founder accused of embezzling $2.5 million to fund lavish lifestyle
NEW YORK (AP) — The charity was called Modest Needs but federal prosecutors who filed charges against its founder say his weren't. Rather, prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan say, Modest Needs founder Keith Taylor had such expensive tastes that he embezzled more...
'Hotel Cocaine' on MGM+ gives viewers disco, drama and plenty of blow in Miami in the late '70s
NEW YORK (AP) — The lapels are wide, “Disco Inferno” is blasting on the dance floor and lines and lines of nose candy are on offer in the new intriguing Miami-based series “Hotel Cocaine.” The eight-episode romp on MGM+ centers on a real-life hotel at the beginning of the...
Unchecked growth around Big Bend sparks debate over water — a prelude for Texas
TERLINGUA, Texas (AP) — A plume of dust trailed the pickup truck that drove through a maze of caliche roads. The driver and passenger were familiar with the route. Rick and Georganne Bradbury, husband and wife, have navigated it twice a month for four years to deliver hundreds of gallons of water...
