Monaco's connection to motor racing and boating is clear all over the place, from the hairpin bends of the Formula 1 race track to the five-deck superyachts moored in Port Hercule.

Less obvious, nonetheless, is the town’s desire to turn out to be often known as a sustainable travel destination.

Monaco's “Green is the New Glam” campaign was launched in 2018 and highlighted most of the country's environmental efforts. And a campaign for 2023 Tourism campaign named sustainability – alongside “Instagrammability” and the attractiveness of being a digital nomad – as one in every of the three most significant pillars for attracting latest travelers.

Its green goals conflict with its greenhouse gas-emitting superyachts and popular Formula 1 racing. Carbon footprint amounted to greater than 223,000 tons of carbon dioxide within the 2022 season, in accordance with a Formula 1 report. However, they’re in keeping with a brand new E1 boat competition by which 100% electric speedboats compete.

Monaco is one in every of six host cities for the competition, which began in Saudi Arabia in February.

During the race in Monaco on July 28, Bernard d'Alessandri, Secretary General and Managing Director of the Yacht Club de Monaco, said that E1 was demonstrating a brand new technology for boat racing.

“Before E1, it was impossible to race electric boats,” he said. “E1 has proven that it is possible.”

Nine teams, piloted by a person and a lady as co-pilots, compete in Racebirds, all-electric speedboats built specifically for E1. Resembling a high-tech hummingbird, they’ve small wings, head and body accentuated by an elongated nose and sleek metallic exterior.

According to race organizers, Racebird is an authorized zero-emissions boat that releases no oil or fuel into the water and makes half the noise and creates less waves than typical powerboats — all of which may cause problems with marine life.

Race organizers also use robotic, anchorless buoys to mark the routes, which, unlike anchors, don’t damage the seabed, says Rodi Basso, CEO and co-founder of E1 and a former Formula 1 engineer.

Since the primary race, organizers have steadily reduced the time and variety of shipping containers needed to host the races. Now they’re working to construct boats near the race courses quite than moving the boats around for every competition, organizers said.

Basso said the race had already attracted the eye of key “interest groups” within the country, including Prince Albert II of Monaco.

“They saw that we were serious about the values ​​we wanted to build,” he said. “They care about the future of yachting.”

Racebird creator Sophi Horne said it was hard to draw the eye of the Monegasque boating elite.

She said only a few people believed within the Racebird through the design phase. But the race modified that, she said, recalling a recent meeting in Monaco with a megayacht designer she has long admired.

“Sitting in his office with his naval architects and going through the Racebird concept in detail and sparking a different way of thinking – that was huge for me,” said Horne.

Horne is founder and chairman of one other company, Seabird, that focuses on the design and construction of electrical boats. She said she is now taking orders from local boat enthusiasts fascinated about electric boats.

“They see how cool it is and they want something their buddies don't have,” she said. “The Racebird is so different from anything they've seen before… they want to know if we can build its little sister, but something that fits the whole family.”

E1's celebrity factor can be attracting attention – a deliberate move in a race featuring boats that reach a top speed of 58 miles per hour, slower than Formula 1's H2O speedboats, which may travel nearly 150 miles per hour.

The nine team owners – actor Will Smith, tennis player Rafael Nadal, singer Marc Anthony, NFL player Tom Brady, soccer star Didier Drogba, cricketer Virat Kohli, Formula One driver Sergio Perez, DJ/record producer Steve Aoki and billionaire Marcelo Claure – are central figures within the races and their names and faces appear on the teams' marketing materials.

Brady and Drogba were spotted embracing within the VIP lounge in Monaco after Brady's team topped the leaderboard after the fourth race of the season.

But team owners are being asked to do greater than just cheer on their boats. E1 is asking each of them to take an energetic role in marine conservation. E1 will crown the winner not only of the championship itself, but in addition of its Blue Impact conservation program. Team Nadal is working to guard the endangered seagrass meadows within the Mediterranean Sea that surrounds his home island of Mallorca and likewise Monaco.

The celebrity factor also raises public awareness of conservation, says Professor Carlos Duarte, climate researcher and chief scientist at E1.

“When people like Tom Brady talk about standing up for ocean protection, it has a huge impact on public engagement,” he said. “Then we can talk about solutions, we can talk about new technologies, we can talk about what the communities are doing in the cities where we race.”

The remaining two races of the E1 series will happen on Lake Como in Italy on August 23, followed by Hong Kong on November 10.

Baseball fans, start your engines.

Major League Baseball announced Friday that NASCAR's legendary Bristol Motor Speedway will host an MLB regular-season game for the primary time next 12 months.

The game between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds is scheduled for August 2, 2025. It may even be the primary MLB game of the season to be played in Tennessee.

“We look forward to celebrating our game with a large number of fans on and off the field all weekend long and highlighting the rich traditions of sports, music and community in Tennessee and the entire region,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in an announcement.

With nearly 150,000 seats, Bristol Motor Speedway is one in all the biggest sporting venues in America.

The game next August will likely break the attendance record for a Major League Baseball game. In 2008, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted a Exhibition fight between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox in front of 115,300 spectators, which is a Guinness World Record for the best attendance at a baseball game of all time. For comparison: An average MLB baseball stadium has space for 40,000 to 45,000 fans.

This announcement comes amid renewed efforts by Major League Baseball to expand the sport to latest venues and fans across the United States and around the globe. MLB has hosted games in lots of non-traditional stadiums, including in 2016 when a game was played at an lively military base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, or in 2021, when the Chicago White Sox played against the New York Yankees on the legendary “Field of Dreams” in Dyersville, Iowa. And just in June, the league hosted “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” in Birmingham, Alabama, two days after death by Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

MLB has also created a schedule of high-profile international games, including matches in cities corresponding to Tokyo, Mexico City, Paris and San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the 2025 season.

Bristol Motor Speedway isn’t any stranger to high-profile non-NASCAR events. The track hosted an NFL preseason game in 1961. In 2016, Tennessee and Virginia Tech played within the “Battle at Bristol” on a specially constructed field within the infield. which attracted 156,990 fansthe biggest crowd ever to see an NCAA football game.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley told The Athletic: which was the primary to report this news on Tuesday“You see all this, teams travel (abroad), change it up a little bit. I think it's going to be pretty cool and unique. It's going to be a fun experience.”

When a lady in her early twenties asked for Vicky Borman’s One bedroom listed cottage Something didn't feel right within the English village of St. Neots last summer.

The user had no reviews on her Airbnb profile, so Borman, the Superhost status on the platform, used social media to analyze.

There it was – an advert on the lady's Facebook profile for a celebration in St Neots. The intention was clear: the party was to happen at Borman's Cottage. She declined the request.

Half an hour later, Borman received one other booking request through Airbnb, this time from an older woman who was inquiring on behalf of her son. Borman had turn out to be suspicious and in addition checked her social media profiles. It occurred to her that the second requester's son was friends with the potential party host that Borman had previously rejected. She declined that booking as well.

That experience has made her more selective about who she lets stay on the cabin, Borman said. She said it's appropriate to ascertain potential guests' social media profiles if she's concerned their stay might cause problems.

“I know there are some Airbnb hosts who literally track every guest. I've wondered if I'm turning into some kind of super detective, but I'm definitely not that kind of person,” Borman said.

“If someone has good reviews, I feel like I don't have to do anything other than make sure they have a pleasant stay. But unfortunately, there have been at least three situations in the last few years where I've felt the need to check people's social media beforehand.”

A Opinion poll A survey of 247 landlords from the UK, US, France, Germany and Canada conducted by home security company Minut shows that Borman's instincts were correct.

About 43% of property managers have experienced noise complaints of their rental properties, while 25% have had the police called to a property due to noise.

However, Borman is among the many 8% who said they give the impression of being at guests' social media profiles before accepting a booking. For Sebastien Long, CEO of the Texas-based company, that is a vital a part of the vetting process Renterthat gives short-term, fully furnished apartment rentals throughout Houston.

“When we have suspicions about someone, we comb through social media,” he said. “We check whether the story matches the information they give us as the reason for booking with us.”

Long said he also conducts a web based search of potential guests, searching for negative headlines and even arrests.

Long said his company is taking these steps to handle one among its biggest problems: the misuse of stolen bank cards.

“Many people stay for a few days and then leave before the original cardholder has a chance to dispute the credit card transaction,” he said. “We pay particular attention to whether the person making the booking is using their own credit card.”

According to Long, Lodgeur's verification process resulted in about 2% of the nearly 1,200 bookings being blocked — a small but critical step in the corporate's commitment to detecting bank card fraud. The company's efforts have resulted in about 10 arrests amongst about 9,000 guests over the past five years.

“There's a trend of 'digital shoplifting,' where someone just spends a weekend at someone else's expense. Basically, it's petty criminals living large,” he said. “When this first happened in 2019, we were standing outside one of the properties waiting for the police. We saw them go in, arrest the guy and drag him out in his underwear.”

Airbnb Superhost Crystal Shell, who manages short-term rentals in Alabama through the management company Bailey Traildoesn’t check renters' social media profiles, she said. But she is strict and only accepts bookings from guests with five-star reviews on Airbnb or similar platforms.

Shell learned her lesson, she says, after initially accepting bookings from guests with 4- or 4.5-star reviews, but then finding that they weren't following checkout procedures, similar to stripping sheets and hanging them within the laundry room or leaving the property by 10 a.m. That's one reason she began her other business, Hello Guest Screen, which provides checkout and other relevant information on properties' television screens.

“The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If a guest breaks something or trashes your property, Airbnb takes forever to pay out insurance claims. Then if you have consecutive bookings, which is usually the case for me, you have to cancel another reservation because something needs to be fixed. That's why I write on my listings, 'Please don't try to book if you have less than five stars or zero reviews,'” Shell said.

An Airbnb spokesperson told CNBC Travel: “Stays rarely result in problems, but we offer free AirCover for hosts And for guestsand have 24/7 support and strict policies.”

AirCover offers hosts damage protection and reimbursements are made on average within two weeks or less, an Airbnb spokesperson said.

Airbnb also said that 0.03% of global bookings resulted in property damage of over $1,000, so hosts and guests are encouraged to communicate about their trip before confirming a booking.

Shell said she requires her guests to send a message before booking so she can confirm the type of stay – something she advises all hosts to do.

“People messaging before booking has saved us in most cases,” she said. “I turn down at least three requests a day because the response usually includes a desire to throw a party. That's also why we don't allow locals to stay with us.”

But for Borman, no amount of social media searching could have prevented the worst guest experience she's ever had, she says. She accepted a last-minute booking request from a man who said he wanted to eat out in the area with his wife and would rather stay at the cottage in St Neots than drive home.

The couple left that night after the man complained the mattress was broken and demanded a refund, she said. Borman said she immediately went to the cabin and found the bedsheets soiled with obvious signs of sexual activity — and a set of coasters missing. She sent photos to Airbnb, which denied the man's refund request and demanded that he reimburse Borman for the coasters and sheets.

Borman then looked him up online and found that he was a well-known and respected London businessman. The search also revealed that the woman was not his wife.

“If I had visited this man beforehand, I probably would have gone out and got him a bottle of champagne,” Borman said.

“He was also an Airbnb Superhost with a wonderful track record, so he looked great on paper. I didn't think I'd find yourself cleansing up after him with rubber gloves on.”

As Airbnb's recently appointed Chief Business Officer, Dave Stephenson plays a critical role in the corporate's future growth plans.

He's also taking over one other role that's critical to that growth: an Airbnb host.

Stephenson, who served as AirbnbAfter joining the corporate from Amazon in 2019, he has been chief financial officer since 2019 and has hosted a mountain cabin outside of Seattle, Washington in recent times. While those staying in his cabin is probably not aware of his position inside the company, Stephenson's approach is indicative of what he sees ahead for Airbnb.

As an avid skier and hiker, Stephenson is glad to share along with his guests one of the best routes. The cabin is provided with a pizza oven, and Stephenson shares his pizza dough recipe with guests, in addition to cafe recommendations and the rest they could need.

“I enjoy sharing what is important to me with others,” he said. “I think they appreciate that local knowledge and kind of know how much I care, and that feels good as a guest to think, 'Wow, this host really cares about me and the experience.'”

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky told employees in a memo that Stephenson's transition into his latest CBO role earlier this 12 months marked a “turning point” for the corporate and a concentrate on growth in existing and latest businesses.

“As we expand beyond our core, it will be paramount to have leadership committed to our long-term growth plans, and there is no one better at doing that than Dave,” Chesky wrote within the memo.

For Stephenson, these long-term growth plans are focused on three key areas: driving international expansion, increasing the variety of hosts on the platform, and constructing out additional experiences and services.

International expansion is critical for Airbnb, and Stephenson spends a whole lot of time on the road helping with that, whether in Germany, South Korea or Brazil. That includes ensuring that “all functions work well together to deliver the results we expect,” he said, whether meaning the country-specific marketing plan is gaining traction or whether there are other specific local points that make that occur worries should be optimized with a view to achieve success. For example, Stephenson said that in Germany there’s a neighborhood accreditation that gives more convenience to consumers, and the corporate has ensured that it receives it. Additionally, Weißenstein Castle – an 18th-century Bavarian castle featured within the Netflix series “The Empress” – was available for exclusive stays on Airbnb.

“It's just about making sure we're very conscious about the way we show up in a country,” he said.

As for the experience, that's a giant a part of what Stephenson gave his Washington guests: a reason to return not only to this property, but to Airbnb as well.

“We will continue to focus on the unique things we can do to enhance our guests’ experience,” he said.

Airbnb also desires to expand its services to make it easier to be each a bunch and a guest. This could include helping hosts facilitate check-in or helping them get the things they need for guests, corresponding to linens. For guests, that would mean transportation to airports and even a completely stocked refrigerator upon arrival, he said.

“The deeper the relationship we build with guests and hosts, the better we can understand their respective needs and the better we can accommodate them,” he said. “The happier they are, the better the experience is for both and the more likely the host is to stay.” [on Airbnb] and the more likely a guest is to return back and check out Airbnb some other place.”

When Stephenson joined Airbnb as CFO in 2019, he said he tried, amongst other things, to introduce a “more operationally rigorous financial organization” into the corporate.

In some ways, meaning acting much like a chief operating officer, he said. “As CFOs, we think about business metrics, customer metrics and revenue metrics. With all of these elements, the way we actually run the company is just as important as the financials.”

The role of the CFO has evolved well beyond the standard finance function to now concentrate on operations, supply chain and increasingly cybersecurity. A CFO role with additional responsibilities applied to Stephenson at Airbnb, who was also named Head of Employee Experience in 2021, liable for talent and leadership development, in addition to recruiting and compensation.

Stephenson took on this latest CBO role earlier this 12 months, while Ellie Mertz, previously Airbnb's vice chairman of finance, began the transition to switch him as CFO following the corporate's quarterly earnings release in February.

“Finance is kind of Switzerland in the way it works and already works,” Stephenson said. “The chief business officer is in some ways an extension of that, a neutral role that makes sure all the other functions are working together effectively and working really well.”