The link between hypergamy and European hospitality
Summer deal flow indicates that the capital markets are alive and well.
Hi everyone,
Happy Friday. I hope you’re either reading this newsletter at the beach or at the airport headed to the beach.
I came across an interesting TikTok video about how American women are “less feminine” and there is a “sensuality deficit” in America. The creator of the video goes on to explain that this “sensuality deficit” is part of what drives the American desire to travel to Europe because Europe is more “sensual and feminine”. She’s not wrong - many parts of Italy, France, Spain are essentially museum cities in which eating good food, soaking up historical architecture, and other Epicurean itches are satisfied and even encouraged. On the contrary, the US is fundamentally formed on capitalist ideals, which naturally shape culture and daily life cities like NYC (where most of my readers are based).
As we are in the thick of wedding-in-Italy season, during which droves of 30-something New Yorkers come to Milan on their way to a wedding in the Lake regions, I have had the pleasure of catching up with my fellow American peers quite frequently lately. One topic that almost always comes up at dinner is dating in New York. The men complain that the women are “too masculine” and the women complain that there are too few eligible men that match or surpass their education and income levels.
My takeaway from all of this is that as women continue to make more money and need men less for financial security, the “sensuality deficit” in US metropolitan cities, in which there are concentrations of high earners, will continue to increase. And my thesis is that demand for travel to Europe - to get a heady dose of the “sensuality” that Europe offers - will continue to benefit from this psychological tailwind.
In today’s newsletter: a very busy deal sheet with just 3 weeks left before August, investing in luxury hotels, billion dollar green juice IPO, Belmond exits the US (for now), the race to conquer wearable tech, a beach club collab that actually makes sense, and more…
Belmond recently completed a multi-year upgrade of the Hotel Splendido in Portofino alongside Martin Brudnizki (of Annabel’s fame). I sometimes feel like Brudnizki interiors can feel a bit campy (like at Hotel Le Grand Mazarin in Paris), but I think he did a wonderful job at preserving the Ligurian legacy with the Splendido. The region of Liguria is on the French-Italian border and has a complicated history that explains the Baroque and Belle Epoque style of architecture that is seen in both the South of France and the Italian Riviera. The Splendido therefore feels refreshingly authentic to its location, and I can’t wait to visit to see it for myself.
