Wyndham Hotel Group became the second hotel brand to announce an inspection holiday during the 2017 AAHOA Convention (April 11-14) for AAHOA members who own Wyndham properties. Note that to qualify for the holiday, you must be a lifetime member OR have paid your 2017 AAHOA annual membership dues. Your AAHOA profile must also reflect your Wyndham hotel ownership. Login at AAHOA.com or contact the membership team at 404-816-5759 to renew now and update your profile.

AAHOA is excited to announce that the AAHOACON17 education session titles have been confirmed. This year, a total of 10 sessions will be held on Wednesday, April 12, and Thursday, April 13, on topics including financing, OTAs, revenue generation, social media, human resources, franchising and more. And, for the first time ever, representatives from Google will be on hand to lead "Google 101: Mastering the World’s Largest Search Engine." 

AAHOA educational offerings and engagement skyrocketed in 2016 thanks to YOU – AAHOA members! In 2016, we offered more education sessions, workshops, brand development days, webinars and CHOs than ever before, with unprecedented member engagement. We added 312 new CHO grads (the most ever in a single year), hosted our first-ever two-day workshop, and hosted over 2,700 webinar attendees! We’re excited to bring AAHOA members even more opportunities for professional development in 2017, so stay tuned!

Since 1963, National Small Business Week has recognized the many achievements of America’s hard-working small business owners. Do you know a small business owner with an amazing success story to tell? Click here for more information on how to nominate yourself or a fellow small business owner for this prestigious accolade. 

On Tuesday, January 3, the new and 115th Congress commenced in Washington, D.C. To hit the ground running, the AAHOA Government Affairs team will be hosting its January Small Delegation Meeting next week to discuss important issues facing hoteliers in 2017. Stay tuned for more information about this event!

In partnership with Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, AAHOA presents Converge on the Capitol 2017 – an event designed to connect you with your state lawmakers. Attendees will meet with Texas state representatives and/or their staff throughout the day on Thursday, Feb. 16, with complimentary bus transportation from the Austin Convention Center to the Capitol and back. Members and non-members welcome.

Looking for ways to get the biggest return on investment? Questex and AAHOA are partnering to offer you educational symposiums designed to help you discover how to achieve yields without buying and selling real estate. Stay tuned – cities and dates are coming soon!

  ●  Enroll now

  ●  Save up to 35 percent

  ●  50 percent off select services

  ●  Call 800-636-2377 (M–F: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET)

  ●  AAHOA UPS Flyer

  ●  Got a question? Email me now

When it comes to the hospitality industry, trends can be both ephemeral and everlasting. Some are just a flash in the pan; others have a staying power that last for decades. Last year’s trends were, in many ways, shaped heavily by consolidation and the drama that accompanies mega mergers and acquisitions, as well as the direct booking wars waged among hotels and their eternal frenemies, the online travel agencies.

Hotel design experts see dual tones, elaborate tile designs and eco-friendly materials as trends to watch for in 2017, and said the future of front desks in hotel lobbies depends on the amount of space and the type of hotel. In a virtual roundtable, six hotel designers told Hotel News Now what they think will be trending in 2017 hotel design.

As home-sharing services like Airbnb keep growing, hotels are finding new ways to capture the millennial demographic that seeks affordability and – perhaps just as importantly – communal experiences. Hilton's Tru brand and Marriott's Moxy brand both emphasize low prices, small guestrooms and large lobbies with opportunities to socialize, while AccorHotels' nascent Jo&Joe brand is designed to "blend the best of private-rental, hostel and hotel formats."

The new year brings with it a tidal wave of change to Washington, D.C. On Jan. 3, 2017, all members of the House and Senate will be sworn into the 115th Congress and there will be several new faces. But all of their eyes will be focused on a date 17 days later: Jan. 20. On that day, Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States.

In the rapidly changing digital marketplace, hotels are faced with a difficult balancing act. They want to attract as many guests as possible but don’t want so many of those guests booking through third-party intermediaries that commissions really start to eat into revenue growth. An empty hotel room benefits no one, but relying too heavily on online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch websites for customers comes at a hefty cost.

There’s no doubt that online travel agencies (OTAs) have gained market share over the years. And with that, commissions also have grown. According to Kalibri Labs’ recent report "Demystifying the Digital Marketplace," commissions paid to third parties rose at twice the rate of room revenue growth for the period from 2011 through 2015.