Benchmark, which includes Benchmark Resorts & Hotels, Gemstone Collection and the London-based etc.venues brand portfolios released its “Top Ten Dining Trends for 2019.” The trends were observed by Benchmark’s executive chefs and culinary experts at the company’s 80 hotels, resorts and restaurants across North America and Europe.

As the east coast prepares for Hurricane Florence to make landfall, airlines have issued waivers for travelers ahead of the storm and cruise lines announced reroutes of some ships earlier this week. The storm is forecasted to bring heavy winds of up to 130 miles an hour and flooding of up to 35 inches to North Carolina, South Carolina and parts of Georgia and Virginia.

Meetings industry veterans Tyra Hilliard and Joan Eisenstodt share advice for meeting planners impacted by hurricanes, including legal advice and contract and safety concerns.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort is planning an expansion, including new features and amenities catering to meetings and groups. The project is slated to break ground early fall 2018 and is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2020. The new structure, which is described as a tower, will be located next to the Swan Resort on the current site of the tennis courts.

UNITE HERE union workers in San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, San Jose, Honolulu and Maui are holding strike authorization votes on Marriott properties across the U.S. The votes will determine whether union workers can move forward with a strike in each city. This article will be updated with voting results as they are announced so be sure to check back in for updates!

Residents of South Carolina and North Carolina were ordered to evacuate coastal areas as Hurricane Florence approaches.

UNITE HERE union workers in Seattle and San Jose, California, confirmed they will hold a strike vote on Marriott properties, joining other union workers holding strike votes in San Francisco, Boston, Honolulu and Maui.

Hospitality industry workers at 26 Chicago hotels are on strike, with four more hotels in jeopardy of a strike.

Nearly 8,000 UNITE HERE hotel workers at Marriott-operated hotels in four North American destinations will hold strike votes the week of September 10. The strike votes by approximately 7,800 workers come on the heels of the Labor Day demonstrations UNITE HERE Marriott workers across the country protesting what the union claims is Marriott’s lack of movement with contract negotiations on key labor issues, including wages, basic job protection and safer working conditions and standards. According to UNITE HERE, more than 100 hotel workers were arrested in multiple cities for staging acts of civil disobedience outside Marriott hotels on September 3, 2018.

Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is departing the organization later in 2018. Lugar has accepted a new position as president and CEO of the American Beverage Association (ABA).