"Hotel Business" sat down with AAHOA Chairman Bharat (Bruce) Patel to discuss and look back on his year at the association’s helm.

Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) CEO Chip Rogers has been selected to speak at the 2017 Hunter Hotel Conference. The three-day conference, now in its 29th year, is a "hotel real estate and finance conference designed for hotel owners and investors." The 2017 program explores financing, franchising, asset management, hotel PIPs, and myriad other topics focused on hotel ownership, investment and development.

Space is strictly limited to the first 100 registrants. Register NOW to save your place at the second How to Form a Management Company workshop! The workshop will be facilitated by long-time AAHOA member and educator Tarun Kapoor, who over the years has helped create many AAHOA member-owned management companies. Carefully selected industry experts will share best practices and innovative organizational initiatives to help you take that next step toward forming a successful management company in your marketplace. 

Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Charlotte are confirmed locations for the all-new Hotel ROI conference series, and we want to see you there! Hotel ROI focuses on how to leverage a hotel asset for maximum returns and is a can’t-miss educational and networking opportunity for hoteliers of all ages and career paths.

Inder Sharma, founder of Hotel Bids—an AAHOA Founding Member—and at least 15 other companies, was interviewed by LodgingLeaders’ Jon Albano recently on how HotelBids.com is giving the OTAs a run for their money.

May 17–18, AAHOA is partnering with the American Hotel & Lodging Association to host the largest hospitality advocacy conference of the year. It costs $49 to register, and for AAHOA members, this fee will be completely reimbursed after you attend the event. 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.!

AAHOA joined 70 other business organizations this week in urging a Senate labor panel to confirm Alexander Acosta as secretary of the Labor Department. The full letter can be found here. AAHOA CEO Chip Rogers said, "The Labor Department needs a knowledgeable and steady hand to guide new policies that will help create jobs, protect workers, empower small businesses and repeal misguided regulations from the past. Alexander Acosta will be an excellent leader of the department."

This week, the Arkansas Senate passed S.B. 668, which promotes economic opportunity by maintaining a uniform standard for wages and benefits throughout the state. Efforts to create a patchwork of local wage laws in different communities undermine hoteliers’ ability to effectively run their businesses. A uniform state standard provides Arkansas hoteliers with a stable economic environment so they can expand, create jobs and invest in their community. The bill now awaits Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. 

Calling all AAHOA women! Here’s your chance to spend a day at Hilton’s Memphis Operations Center learning about the brand and networking with other hoteliers and Hilton leadership. If you’re not a Hilton franchisee, don’t worry – this is still an excellent opportunity for professional development, and we strongly encourage all AAHOA women to attend.

All AAHOA members are invited to join the AAHOA officers and LQ brand executives for the latest AAHOA updates and to learn more about AAHOA’s partnership with La Quinta Inns & Suites. The meeting will be held in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, March 26, from 5–6 p.m. in the Hilton Anatole Sapphire Room (Tower Lobby level). 

Wednesday, March 29, 2–2:30 p.m. EDT: If you missed the American Express Chargeback & Dispute webinar series last year, this is your opportunity to hear these exclusive webinars and also participate in a live Q&A session at the end. Disputes can be complicated; learn more about the American Express chargeback and dispute process step by step, including why you see certain inquires and chargebacks.

Thursday, March 30, 2–2:30 p.m. EDT: American Express will go through some common myths on credit card disputes, as well as best practices and tips to help prevent them.

Hotel construction continues apace in the United States, and dozens of new properties are expected to open this year in two major corporate and tourist destinations, New York and Los Angeles. But the three other cities with the most hotels projected to open in 2017, according to the industry research company STR, are all in Texas — Dallas, Houston and Austin.

You might have expected The Trump Organization to tap the brakes on expansion plans given all the criticism over potential conflicts of interest while its owner sits in the Oval Office. It’s hitting the accelerator instead. The company owned by President Donald Trump is launching a chain of new hotels with plans to open in cities large and small across the country. Called Scion, they will be the first Trump-run hotels not to bear the family’s gilded name. 

The second quarter of 2017 has begun, and the transaction outlook for the hotel industry appears to maintain the momentum of the past year but with increasing selectivity from lenders. "Across all real estate, everything feels fully baked and fully priced," said Mathew Crosswy, principal at Atlanta-based Stonehill Strategic Capital. Crosswy said they are now "rifle shooting" acquisition opportunities on the debt side, but he still is cautiously optimistic.

When Airbnb first landed on the scene, Bashar Wali had a spiel in his pocket, always at the ready for anyone who asked him about the sharing-economy site. "There were two types of Airbnb customers," says the principal and president of Provenance Hotels. "There’s the couch surfer who wants to go crash somewhere at $25 a night because that’s all he or she can afford. And those are not hotel customers... looking for exclusively value."   PHOTO: LBA HOSPITALITY.

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.

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