Miscellaneous

🍴 Bret Thorn is the Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999. He studied at Tufts University and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and worked for ABC News in Beijing during Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. He was president of IFEC in 2005 and inducted into Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Thorn's columns won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award. He lives in Brooklyn but is originally from Denver.

📈 November 2025, the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest since 2021. The economy added 64,000 jobs, despite a 43-day government shutdown. Eating and drinking places added 5,600 jobs in November, marking five consecutive months of growth. The industry gained 120,000 jobs in the last five months, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 196,000 jobs (1.6%). Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, and Nevada saw the highest employment gains, while 17 states remain below pre-pandemic levels.

✈️ TUI Airline, a major European leisure airline group, partners with Navitaire Stratos, a next-gen retailing portfolio for low-cost carriers. Navitaire, an Amadeus company, provides new features like a modern shopping cart, e-commerce convenience, and personalized travel recommendations. Powered by AI and cloud-native technology, the solution follows IATA standards. TUI aims to enhance customer value and experience, while TUI InfoTec, its IT subsidiary, leads the collaboration.

🏝️ Vijay Patel, President of A-1 Hospitality Group, received the Kris Watkins Tourism Champion Award from Visit Tri-Cities for enhancing the region’s tourism. Since 1997, Patel has developed A-1 Hospitality, now managing 20 hotels across five states. AAHOA, with 20,000 members, owns 60% of U.S. hotels, contributing 1.7% to GDP. Patel, a former Vice President of the Oregon Lodging Association, advocates for sustainable growth and community support in tourism.

🍳 Historic chef competition International Salon Culinaire will occur from March 30 to April 1, 2026, featuring over 90 competitions. New challenges include the Oriental Duck competition and Global Eggcellence Challenge. Key figures include Steve Munkley, Nick Vadis, and judges like Simon Barton and Szilard Szentesi. The deadline for entries is February 20, 2026. Notable competitions: Tilda Chef Team of the Year 2026 and Pub Chef of the Year 2026. Pastry competitions include APC’s Dessert of the Year and Valrhona Live Tea Pastry Challenge.

🛩 KlasJet, a VIP charter and ACMI provider, emphasizes enhancing pilot training beyond mandatory requirements. European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandates recurrent training every three years, organized at KlasJet in 6-month phases. Evidence-based training (EBT), endorsed by ICAO in 2013 and EASA in 2015, is advocated. Diako Rad and Sandra Diaso stress the importance of multinational team dynamics, ongoing support, and psychological aid post-stressful flights to ensure pilot wellbeing and performance.

🗺 Ian Brooks and Alexis Coles Barrasso launched a unique agency, Inspiring Travel Speakers, in the UK as of today's date. This agency fills a niche by providing travel-focused speakers for events and conferences. Unlike generic agencies, it specializes in travel, featuring vetted speakers like industry pioneers and adventurers. The founders leverage their extensive travel industry expertise to ensure authentic storytelling that captivates audiences and addresses universal business themes.

✈️ Vueling, part of IAG, partners with Hearlo, an app by Spanish start-up Asteroid Technologies, to enhance inclusive travel for those with hearing or verbal communication difficulties. The app integrates features like text-to-speech, visual pictograms, and pre-set travel phrases in over ten languages, including Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic. It works offline, offering an interactive, accessible journey experience. The Hearlo app is free to download from Google Play and the App Store.

🏨 Hotels serve as temporary homes for everyone, providing familiar amenities whether in a Marriott in Mumbai or a Hilton in Houston. In the U.S., extended-stay hotels now house those priced out of rentals, exemplifying the flexibility of hotels and exposing housing gaps. They host diverse guests, from business travelers to disaster evacuees, highlighting their adaptability as remote work changes living patterns. Hotels offer neutral spaces where personal stories unfold, ready to accommodate the next visitor.

🏨 Hotels serve as temporary homes, offering refuge during disasters, hosting business deals, and accommodating families on vacation. In the U.S., extended-stay hotels now house those priced out of rentals, highlighting a housing gap. These spaces adapt for diverse guests, from executives to evacuees, providing a neutral, flexible environment. As remote work grows, hotels are evolving into future living prototypes—spaces for both triumph and despair. They embody adaptability, offering a familiar yet transient shelter.