Just how safe is your in-room tablet? That’s the takeaway from new research presented last Friday at the DefCon hacking conference Friday by Ricky Lawshae, an offensive security researcher. Lawshae discovered over two dozen vulnerabilities in devices from electronics company Crestron. And while the company has attempted to fix the issues, some of the weaknesses allowed for hackers to theoretically turn the Crestron Android touch panels used in offices and hotel rooms into spy devices. As Wired points out, not good stuff. —Chloe Riley
What do millennials want? Sofas, as it turns out. Kevin Jacobs, chief financial officer of Hilton, talked to the Wall Street Journal about tweaks and re-tweaks to the company’s brands in the never-ending challenge of keeping the millennials checking in. One such expensive tweak: Replacing stadium seating – “It wasn’t terribly comfortable and there wasn’t a demand for stadium seating and watching other people play pool” – with sectional sofas. That’s a move that this Gen X’er, at least, agrees with heartily. —Barbara Bohn
Growth in Africa: A PwC report suggests Africa has a solid growth story as both a tourism and business hub. “Tourism to the African continent has proven to be resilient in the face of economic and political uncertainty, impacts of droughts and other regulatory changes,” the report suggests. History suggests fragility to political and infrastructure issues. Has experience finally helped the continent turn a corner. —Jeff Weinstein
Resort fee-a-go-go: Las Vegas is “a city that has never met a resort fee it doesn’t love,” according to Travel Market Report’s Cheryl Rosen. Last weekend, MGM Resorts expanded a mandatory 20% fee for spa services to include all its Las Vegas properties (included in that is an administration fee, so not all of it winds up with the person who actually provided the service). Rosen breaks down the proliferation of fees and how it affects not just consumers but the travel agents who love them. —B.B.
Wynn and MGM craving a comeback: This piece from the Las Vegas Review-Journal has a nicely bulleted list of all the things Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International have been doing to save themselves from the PR nightmares that have been their lives for the past six months and almost a year, respectively. Wynn has spent that time restoring the company’s image after allegations of sexual harassment against former chairman and CEO Steve Wynn prompted his resignation in February. The company also hopes distancing the company from the man will preserve its US$2.4 billion investment in Massachusetts. And MGM has been busy making moves to stabilize the company’s value after the mass shooting of Oct. 1. The company also is trying to meet the high expectations of the investment community that saw 2017’s third quarter, which included the well-attended Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather bout, as a new standard. —C.R.