AAHOA Chairman Biran Patel and Vice Chair Vinay Patel will be among the featured guests when HotelREBOOT launches its series of “Podference” sessions this month to help hoteliers meet the challenges of the pandemic-ravaged marketplace. Biran will offer his expertise on Panel 2: Reinvent: Hotel Ownership & Management (July 8), where attendees will hear best practices regarding how hoteliers are rethinking what it means to run a hotel and changes that increase efficiencies, save money, and exceed customer expectations. Vinay will share his insights on the new rules of hotel investment for buying, selling, and building and what hoteliers must know to get the best deal possible during Panel 3: Refinance & Reinvest (July 22). Register today.

Due to the recent COVID-19 spikes that have caused several states to pause their reopening process, the ALIS Summer Update Series is being converted into a virtual series, with the kickoff event being New York on July 13. AAHOA Chairman Biran Patel will be a featured panelist in both the Nashville (July 16) and Dallas (July 20) events, the former of which AAHOA President & CEO Cecil P. Staton will moderate. All registrants will have access to participate in all three virtual events, and going forward, registration for the ALIS Summer Update virtual series will be available free of charge. More information is to come regarding the program and how to participate in the virtual platform, so check the website for more information in the coming days.

As announced last week, due to new health and safety guidelines issued by the Florida Department of Health, AAHOA will not be holding its 2020 Convention & Trade Show in person. Registrations for the in-person event will be refunded, and instead, AAHOA looks forward to hosting its annual convention virtually. The can't-miss virtual event will give attendees the content, resources, and networking opportunities that the traditional in-person event provides year after year. Please visit the FAQ to learn more and be on the lookout for more details in the coming days. You don't want to miss this year's event.  

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage businesses and communities in so many ways. One of its most insidious and harmful effects is that it also makes communities even more vulnerable to human trafficking. While the many effects of COVID-19 on communities are unavoidable, preventing human trafficking is not. To help members join the fight to eradicate this scourge, AAHOA offers Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) Inhospitable to Human Trafficking Training Sponsored by AAHOA. This on-demand, fully digital training is completely FREE to all AAHOA Members and their employees. As the industry continues to navigate through this pandemic, there has never been a better time to complete this brief yet highly impactful training. The training is completely digital and free. Use this time of continued social distancing to earn your certificate.

As the economy continues to move toward reopening fully, now is a great time to take advantage of AAHOA's all-encompassing Certificate in Hotel Ownership^TM (CHO). This reimagined CHO is a fully customizable all-digital platform that offers an in-depth look into 12 learning tracks: Investment & Development, Front Office, Financing, Hotel Ownership, Human Resources, Accounting, Major Support Departments, Leadership, Legal & Compliance, Revenue Management, Sales & Marketing, and Technology. If you sign up by 11:59 p.m. ET on August 9 using promo code WELCOME20, you can earn your certificate for as little as $149, so don't wait! Learn more here.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's vital for Congress to continue to pass legislation favorable to the hospitality industry, especially hoteliers. But AAHOA needs to have hard data to present when it advocates on your behalf and it can't do that if it doesn't have a full and complete picture of those facts. That's just one reason why AAHOA needs each and every member to fully complete your MyAAHOA.com profile with updated property information. This completely confidential process will help AAHOA wield power and influence with elected officials. But advocacy efforts aren't the only benefit you gain when you complete your profile. You can control your subscriptions and customize your communications preferences on the things that matter most; register for upcoming events, webinars, and workshops; contribute to the AAHOA PAC; ensure eligibility to vote in AAHOA's upcoming election; give AAHOA a stronger platform with brands to better advocate on your behalf; have access to more (and better!) deals and savings with vendor partners; and so much more. Complete your profile today!

In the wake of the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, AAHOA is bringing you a series of webcasts that will keep you informed and help determine next steps for your business. We have educated more than 20,000 hoteliers to date and feature more than 110 webcasts separated by category in our library. AAHOA is making these webcasts available to the industry, so be sure to share with those in your network, whether they're an AAHOA Member or not. 

 

Register Now for These Upcoming Webcasts: 

• Getting Back to Business: How to Win Revenue and Influence Customers, 1-1:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, July 2
• Getting Back to Business: Building Trust Through Transparency, 1-1:30 p.m. EDT Monday, July 6
• Getting Back to Business: The Easy Way to Get Your PPP Loan Forgiven, 1-1:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, July 7

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey reports, “Economy (-26.5%) was the relatively strongest chain scale for branded hotels; Upper Upscale was the weakest at -76.5%. Upscale (-63.3%) underperformed the industry average; Upper Midscale (-50.0%) outperformed. Headline stats from last week's STR results presented a better picture than frankly we would have expected given a material decline in hotel closures (~ 300 bps vs. the prior week to just 6% of the U.S. supply). However, one week does not make a trend as we like to say -- and the sequential strength appears to be more weekend driven, especially for full-service given still limited corporate fly-to travel and virtually nil large groups.”

 

AAHOA Members get discounts on employer-sponsored medical, dental, vision, disability, and other benefit plans. We also offer a FREE Pharmacy Discount Card program that offers savings of up to 75 percent on all FDA-approved prescriptions. For more info, contact Susana Cintron today!

SurferQuest™ has been setting the industry standard for Secure Business Center software while serving thousands of locations worldwide since 2001. We emphasize minimizing your hotel's liability and protecting your guests from malware, viruses and identity theft, the fastest-growing cyber crime in technology today. SurferQuest™ offers a full suite of guest engagement technology solutions built with your hotel and budget in mind. For more info, contact Kathryn Koning, visit the website or call 814-342-3120 today!

AAHOA has joined with the University of Houston Conrad Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management to create a AAHOA Scholarship. AAHOA will contribute a total of $125,000 to UH over five years, beginning in 2016. The contributions will be matched by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, creating a $250,000 fund to be named the AAHOA Student Assistantship & Scholarship Endowment. To find out more about the qualifications or how to apply, please click here. 

While year-over-year comparisons in the hotel industry are still bleak, month-to-month numbers show some improvement. The numbers indicate April may have been the lowest point, leaving more hope that the industry will continue to grow.

Banks have tried to be flexible with loan payments due during the economical aftermath of COVID-19. Other types of borrowers, such as those with CMBS loans, are finding it difficult to find flexibility and understanding.

The hotel industry has always needed a strong face-to-face connection with guests, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of in-person interaction requirements. However, even in the age of social distancing, hotels will recover by focusing where they always have: on people.