Tourism Winners and Losers and the Obsession with Safety

There is now tangible evidence that the impact of terrorism on tourism is not as transient and limited as it used to be. Countries and destinations perceived as “safe” are benefitting significantly as a result. To give an example, the June occupancy rate in Paris hotels fell by 14 percent on a yearly basis, while the number of foreign visitors to Spain has risen by 12 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Study: Ordering/Choosing Food Before Eating Means Lower-Calorie Diet

New Carnegie Mellon University experiments revealed that, when a solid gap existed between when people ordered their food and when they planned to eat it, they opted for significantly lower calorie meals. Interestingly, it wasn’t being hungry in the moment that made the “no willpower” difference, but seemed to be that when one orders meals/food in advance that one can better weigh the longer term costs/benefits.

Companies Getting Aggressive with “Unplugging” Employees

With mounting research that the new always-on work culture is killing productivity, more companies worldwide are taking action to unplug workers. This can range from creating firm policies on work hours (and encouraging people to totally unplug outside of them) to automatically deleting emails for employees on vacation – even banning all internal work emails in favor of calls and face-to-face communication.