Demand expected to keep pace with Vegas boom
Demand expected to keep pace with Vegas boom — The biggest players in Las Vegas — the casinos — are perfectly comfortable with the torrid pace of development that has some investors worried, executives say. But demand is likely to keep pace, at least for the next several years, according to industry experts. (Reuters)
Katrina hotel bills raise questions — Congressional committee testimony that luxury hotels billed the federal government up to $438 a night for Hurricane Katrina evacuees raised the prospect of a potential price-gouging investigation Monday. (USA Today)
British ban indoor smoking — After a tortured debate, Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday for a total ban on smoking in indoor public places in England  a move that seemed certain to end the time-hallowed traditions of the smoky British pub, where a pint of ale and a cigarette once defined the downtime of generations. (The New York Times)
BET founder to buy 100 hotels for $1.7 billion — The development firm controlled by Robert L. Johnson has signed a deal to buy 100 hotels for $1.7 billion, a significant expansion of the real estate holdings of the founder of the Black Entertainment Television network. (AP)
Race not factor in Southwest discrimination verdict, juror says — The Exeter, N.H., woman who lost a racial discrimination lawsuit against Southwest Airlines says she will not appeal because she does not want to be humiliated in public again. (AP)
Budget airline Ryanair offers ‘zero fare’ tickets — Budget airline Ryanair offered millions of cheap tickets Tuesday as it went on the attack against allegations in a TV program that it has been lax in respecting air safety and security rules. (AP)
Crisis meeting as bird flu spreads — Germany has become the fourth European Union nation to detect the deadly strain of avian flu in wild birds, with health experts from the nation preparing for a crisis meeting in a bid to halt the global spread. (CNN)
Hotels hope visitors check out livelier, upgraded lobby — Hotel lobbies aren’t just places to check in any more. Flush with money from the travel boom, the U.S. hotel industry will spend $5 billion on improvements in 2006, says consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers. Hotels are channeling much of it into lobbies, making them inviting places to meet, linger and mingle. (USA Today)
Carrie Charney, Christopher Elliott, John Frenaye, Charles Leocha, Marge Purnell, Valerie Schneider, Mary Staley, Stephanus Surjaputra, Richard Wong.