Have you registered for Hotel ROI? Created and cohosted by AAHOA and Hotel Management, Hotel ROI is a one-day conference designed to provide hotel owners with location-specific industry metrics and immediately applicable data in the shortest possible time. In 2017, Hotel ROI will be held in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Charlotte. Click here to register and use discount code "AAHOA50" for $50 off!

AAHOA President and CEO Chip Rogers, a member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council, shared his insights on creating successful nonprofit events and the impact of fundraising and giving small donations earlier this week, as a part of the Forbes CommunityVoice column.

On May 17-18, AAHOA is partnering with the American Hotel & Lodging Association to host the largest advocacy conference to ever hit the hospitality industry. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this unique opportunity to meet members of congress, network and celebrate the strength of our industry in vibrant Washington, D.C.

This week, AAHOA members attended Tennessee Day on the Hill hosted in conjunction with the Tennessee Hospitality & Tourism Association. At this legislative conference, hoteliers discussed short-term rentals (Airbnb) and advocated for tax and regulatory fairness. To cap off this amazing event, attendees witnessed Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam offer his remarks in support of the state’s hospitality industry. 

Sign up now to take advantage of AAHOA’s week-long CHO program! You’ll gain an enhanced fundamental understanding of key aspects of hotel-ownership including HR, accounting, technology and more, in Sevierville, Tennessee!

Meet with AAHOA and La Quinta leaders this month in Las Vegas! AAHOA’s brand alliance meetings (BAM) are an excellent opportunity to interact with other brand owners, get important brand updates, and learn more about the resources available to you as both a franchisee and an AAHOA member. Due for CHO recertification? Register to take the CHO exam during the conference by emailing jpalla@laquinta.com. The deadline is March 10.

The average frequent flyer spends at least one hour researching prospective hotels online in his or her destination before booking a flight. In 2017, it will be a marketing sin for hotels not to have a presence on Twitter, which boasted 319 million monthly active users as of the fourth quarter of 2016.

Understanding ever-changing traveler behaviors is vital for hoteliers as they compete with online travel agencies for guest bookings. In a webinar titled "How Airlines, Hotels and OTAs Compete on the Web," Phocuswright research analyst Brandie Wright shared what hoteliers can expect about travelers’ habits based on booking data.

Here are five key takeaways.

With approximately two million listings worldwide, Airbnb hardly seems like an underdog in the hospitality industry. Financial analysts have taken notice: Last fall, Airbnb was valued higher than industry giant Hilton Worldwide. It is clear there is an ongoing shift within the industry, as a segment of the travel market appears to have put the traditional hotel industry on notice. Is Airbnb a real threat to hotels as we know them? PHOTO: EILEEN ESCARDA VIA THE McBRIDE COMPANY

While many hoteliers have downplayed the sharing economy’s rising competition in previous years, the increasing market penetration of Airbnb, and others like it, has steadily risen and is now expanding outside of the large, metropolitan markets it was once contained to.

Sima Patel, an AAHOA member since 1994, has already lived a lifetime of firsts: She first learned English in Surat, India, at age 16; at 17, she moved to Oakland, California, where just years later she acquired the first plot of land that would become her and her husband’s first hotel development; she is the first Indian woman ever to chair a national or state lodging association in the United States.