Miscellaneous

📈 Aug 21, 2025 - Corporate travelers face high costs and frustration due to fragmented airline content across outdated booking systems. Airlines are distributing fares over four or more channels, creating mismatched pricing and service gaps. Legacy agencies tied to GDS models struggle with the rapid shift to direct sales and NDC, while modern agencies like TravelPerk leverage tech-driven solutions, increasing efficiency and widening the gap. The industry faces a critical need for innovation to meet traveler expectations.

🍱 Del Taco is expanding its partnership with ezCater to boost its catering business across nearly 250 locations, with a phased rollout through 2026. This strategy targets workplaces nationwide as a key marketing channel, leveraging ezCater’s platform. According to ezCater data, 70% of employees who try a restaurant at work order again personally. Del Taco aims to introduce its flavors to more workplaces, utilizing tools like ezOrdering and ezDispatch for efficient operations.

🍱 Del Taco partners with ezCater to expand its catering business to workplaces, aiming to include nearly 250 locations by 2026. Around 70% of employees reorder from a restaurant they first try at work. This partnership enhances Del Taco's reach and revenue, offering convenient options like Build Your Own Taco Kits and Burrito Boxes. Del Taco uses ezCater's ezOrdering and ezDispatch for seamless operations nationwide.

📣 Del Taco is expanding its partnership with ezCater to grow its catering business across nearly 250 locations through 2026. This move aims to tap into workplace catering as a key marketing channel, with data showing that 70% of employees who try a restaurant at work will reorder independently. Del Taco employs ezCater's ezOrdering and ezDispatch services to streamline operations and has optimized its menu for workplace orders with options like Taco Kits and Burrito Boxes.

🍴 Bret Thorn is a senior food & beverage editor at Nation’s Restaurant News since 1999. He also joined Restaurant Hospitality's staff in 2016. Thorn hosted a podcast and wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun (2005-2008). A Tufts University graduate, he studied at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, and in China. His NRN column won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award. He contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and was inducted into Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Thorn resides in Brooklyn, NY.

🍴 President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. on Aug. 11 led to a significant drop in restaurant reservations, declining 16% initially and 31% by Aug. 13. There was a slight recovery by Aug. 16, but reservations remained down by 20% year-over-year. Prior to this, D.C. experienced 11 months of growth. 380 restaurants are participating in the Summer Restaurant Week, crucial for post-pandemic recovery. The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington remains optimistic about increased reservations.

📍 Find the perfect event venue in three phases! Phase 1 involves using online platforms and specific queries to narrow options. Phase 2 focuses on venue vetting by examining capacity, location, ambiance, budget, and rules. Phase 3 includes city-specific examples like London, Miami, and Tel Aviv, each offering unique venue styles. Utilize services like rsrv.rest for effective venue comparison in these diverse locations. This structured approach ensures an ideal match for any celebration.

✈️ Oman Air partners with Turkish Airlines for loyalty points exchange, enhancing Sindbad members’ benefits on trips to Türkiye, Europe, and more. Following Oman Air’s oneworld alliance entry, members gain rewards across 900 destinations. Despite halving losses to $187 million in 2024, Oman Air plans new routes. In 2025, UK routes add four weekly flights, aiming for double-daily by summer 2026. Point-to-point passengers increased from 75,000 to 200,000 (2024-2025). Oman hotels’ revenues rose 17.3% in early 2025.

✈️ Attraction World Group (AWG) and Southwest Airlines have launched a strategic partnership, effective today, expanding Southwest's Getaways by Southwest packages to over 30 destinations. The collaboration includes premium airport transfers and plans to expand through 2025-2026. Accessible via AWG's Experience Connector platform, the initiative aims to enhance holiday planning for North American customers. Through API integration, Southwest customers will have access to flexible, bundled travel packages including air, hotel, and transportation options.