Current Industry Affairs (CIA)
Hyatt Hotels to purchase Apple Leisure Group (ALG)
Hyatt Hotels Corp. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Apple Leisure Group (ALG) for $2.7 billion in cash in a deal that will double its resort footprint.
The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will add about 100 AMResorts properties to its portfolio. Many of those resorts are in Mexico and the Caribbean, operating under the Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, Zoetry and Sunscape brands.
The Hyatt acquisition includes all of ALG's other businesses, including its well-known brands in packaged travel: Apple Vacations, Travel Impressions, Funjet Vacations, CheapCaribbean, Southwest Vacations, United Vacations, BlueSkyTours Hawaii and BeachBound.
Hyatt also becomes the parent of technology company Trisept Solutions, ALG's Unlimited Vacation Club and Amstar, a provider of transportation and excursions in resort destinations.
Cruise Lines navigate new vaccine mandates
The cruise industry has worked exhaustively during its pandemic pause to figure out how to carry passengers safely. But the restart is now being complicated by conflicting vaccine protocols that challenge its very business model.
The most impactful among them are the contradicting rules from the cruise industry's home base and main embarkation point, Florida, and the popular ports its ships visit in the Caribbean.
On Aug. 19, the Bahamas issued an emergency order requiring that all adult cruise ship passengers be vaccinated in order for any ship to call in the islands. The Bahamas has emerged as a particularly important country for cruise lines, since it's a close and convenient destination from Florida and is home to most of the lines' private islands.
Earlier this year, Florida made it illegal for businesses to require proof of vaccination for service. The law affected cruise ships embarking passengers in the state. Royal Caribbean, for example, changed what had been an adult-vaccine requirement on cruises from Florida to a suggestion, since it could not legally ask for proof of the jabs. MSC came out of the gate saying that it would not mandate passengers be vaccinated on its cruises, which launched this month.
That has enabled the other lines to comply with the Bahamas order by being able to ask passengers for vaccination status.
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European Union Set to Reinstate Travel Restrictions on the United States
After a recent surge in COVID-19 numbers in the United States, the European Union is recommending to reinstate travel restrictions, including testing and quarantine requirements, on Americans. While the exact details of the restrictions are not yet known, the move would make it more difficult for unvaccinated travelers to travel into the E.U. under nonessential purposes.
The U.S., despite a push to do so, has yet to fully open up its borders to Europeans.
Over the weekend, the U.S. reached 100,000 daily COVID hospitalizations for the first time since March when most Americans weren’t yet eligible to be vaccinated.
According to the latest available data, 52.4% of Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 61.6% of Americans receiving at least one dose of an approved vaccine.
For current travel openings and restrictions for Europe:
