Regulatory and Legal Affairs

🛡 Gwen Mills, president of Unite Here, a labor union with approximately 275,000 members in the US and Canada, discusses the ongoing hotel worker strikes for improved wages, workloads, and staffing, which were cut during the COVID era. Unionized workers are striking in cities with high living costs, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Boston, and Baltimore. The hospitality industry has recovered from the pandemic, with hotel owners making record profits, yet workers' wages have not kept pace. Mills emphasizes the need for respect and asserts that one job should be enough to live on. The strikes aim to address the gap between soaring room rates, which hit record highs with $100 billion in gross operating profits in 2022, and the quality of service and labor treatment. The conversation touches on the challenges faced by housekeepers, bellmen affected by operational changes, and the broader economic factors influencing wage demands. Unions are calling for re-investment in the workforce to maintain high hospitality standards amidst changing hotel ownership dynamics, where detached investors focus on bottom-line profits.

🏛 AC Hotel and Residence Inn by Marriott Reston in Northern Virginia, operated by Donohoe Hospitality Services, is scheduled to open in January 2025. The dual-branded hotel will feature 267 guestrooms across 16 floors—120 rooms in the Residence Inn with fully equipped kitchens and 147 in the AC Hotel with modern design. Amenities include 11,300 square feet of meeting space, indoor pool, fitness facility, restaurant, and rooftop bar. Located in Reston Town Center, it offers proximity to retailers, restaurants, cinema, events, and the Silver Line Metro connecting to Washington Dulles International Airport. Extended-stay travelers can enjoy 650-square-foot studios at the Residence Inn, while the AC Hotel caters to business travelers. SEVEN Restaurant & Bar and SYN Rooftop Bar & Lounge will provide dining and cocktail experiences.

🏠 Alexandros Vassilikos was unanimously re-elected as President of HOTREC in Warsaw. Morten Thorvaldsen (Norway) became Vice-President, Adrian Cummins (Ireland) Treasurer, and Sami Nisametdin (Finland) Chair of SSD. European hospitality leaders discussed EU priorities, sustainability, digital trends, and policies impacting the industry. HOTREC's next General Assembly will be in April 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark. For media, contact Jasper Dober at [email protected]

📌 The NYC hotel licensing bill, despite revisions, is opposed by the hotel industry, including the AHLA and AAHOA, who warn it could economically harm small, family-owned hotels and immigrant and minority-owned businesses. Key figures like AHLA's interim CEO Kevin Carey and AAHOA's chairman Miraj Patel, along with NYC Minority Hotel Association founding member Mukesh Patel, express concerns over the bill's impacts on jobs and operations. The industry urges continued dialogue for a balanced solution.

💳 Legal aimed to reach 100,000 customer enrollments in their loyalty program by the end of 2024. Enrollment rates were initially high but began to decrease, leading Legal to seek assistance from the Paytronix Strategy & Analytics team to revitalize the program and meet their enrollment target.

📝 Isabella Vincenza, former salesperson at CloudKitchens, filed a discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit, alleging wrongful termination, a hostile work environment, and unfair pay practices. Vincenza, who was fired in July 2023, claimed her accounts were reassigned after maternity leave, and faced insinuations of being let go for taking leave. CloudKitchens denies the claims, citing an internal review. The company, led by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, has a history of lawsuits including deceptive business practices and discrimination, with several filed in 2022 and a class action filed in August 2023.

🏙 Saudi Arabia will eliminate hotel licensing fees starting September 4, 2024, as part of the Tourism Investment Enabler Program. This move, aimed at boosting luxury tourism, aligns with the kingdom's Vision 2030 to diversify its economy and enhance tourism's GDP contribution. STAAH, a channel manager, responds by expanding in Saudi Arabia through partnerships, optimizing distribution across online platforms. Hotels can now invest more in guest experiences and marketing to capitalize on tourism growth.

🔒 In Washington, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) supports the HOTEL Act introduced by Reps. Chris Smith and Raja Krishnamoorthi, aiming to encourage federal workers to book hotels with anti-trafficking programs. The legislation requires hotel training developed with state governments or recognized trafficking experts. Since 2019, over 1.8 million hotel employees have undergone AHLA's No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) training. Additionally, AHLA's Survivor Fund, established in 2022, has raised $3.7 million, with a matching commitment by AHLA Foundation up to $5 million towards a $10 million goal.