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Skift Take
Today’s edition of Skift’s daily podcast looks closer at Ritz-Carlton’s training experiment, Brazil’s new visas, and a new Paris boutique hotel.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, April 18. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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Episode Notes
The Ritz-Carlton believes it’s part of an innovative effort that could help it ease a labor shortage. The Marriott brand has teamed up with the Switzerland-based EHL Hospitality Business School to create a new employee training program in the Maldives, reports Corporate Travel Editor Matthew Parsons.
The business school has established a three-year program to help the Ritz-Carlton and the Patina Hotels & Resorts train and retain employees. A consultant for the business school said the program would help current employees at the two companies who lack formal certifications. The first group of students graduated from the program last week.
Next, Brazil plans to reinstate tourist visa requirements for visitors from the U.S., Japan, Australia and Canada. That’s in response to those four countries requiring Brazilian tourists to have visas. Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam writes Brazil’s retaliatory visa rules could stunt its tourism recovery.
The Brazilian government recently announced that citizens from those aforementioned nations would need to have a tourist visa starting October 1. Habtemariam reports Brazilian officials haven’t yet announced details for the reinstated visa application procedure. But he adds visas will hurt the country’s competitiveness in the race to attract visitors. A Brazil-based executive at tour operator Intrepid Travel questioned the decision to reimplement the visa requirements, noting that travelers don’t want to apply for a visa most of the time.
In addition, Habtemariam writes that poor visa processing times can harm a destination’s tourism recovery, a subject Skift explored in a 2023 report.
Finally, boutique hotel brand Maisons Pariente has focused on operating understated luxury properties in resort destinations since its 2019 launch. But it’s opening a hotel in Paris this June, a market that represents a major challenge for the family owned company, reports Contributor Leslie Barrie.
Barrie writes the Hotel Le Grand Mazarin will be its first hotel not located in a leisure destination and first to be open year-round. She adds that the Maisons Pariente has to walk a fine line between maintaining a “homey” vibe unique to the brand and appealing to both travelers and locals. Maisons Pariente co-founder Kimberley Cohen said it had designed properties that make travelers feel like they’re at a friend’s house.
However, Cohen added that its Parisian hotel will have a distinct personality separating it from the brand’s other three hotels. She said visitors to Paris want to experience something grand — instead of feeling like they’re staying at a typical apartment or house.
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