With tens of thousands of small businesses struggling to survive, the inability of our lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass a substantial COVID-19 relief bill is unacceptable. This week, AAHOA launched a campaign to press public officials to take action, and today is the last day. “10,000 Letters, One Purpose: Save America’s Hotels,” inundated Congress with more than 10,000 letters in less than 24 hours to impact the discussion in Washington. But our work is not done. We must act as a united force to let them know how vital it is that they pass additional relief now, so keep the pressure on. Send your letters TODAY.

Have you registered for AAHOA's 2020 Regional Conferences & Trade Shows? Our first in the series kicks off next week! Our Regionals Series offers attendees and vendors 8 chances to network, 8 trade shows, and 8 chances to hear from leaders and experts in your area to prepare your business for what's to come. These virtual conferences, which continue into December, also will offer attendees region-specific educational industry panels that you can't find anywhere else. Visit here to learn more about this can't-miss series, then register to reserve your spot!

AAHOA Immediate Past Chair Jagruti Panwala will be a featured speaker at the She Has a Deal competition 8:30 a.m-12:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, October 24 in McLean, VA. Panwala will share her experiences as a woman in a male-dominated industry, as well as highlights and lessons learned from her term as AAHOA’s first Chairwoman. The pitch competition, of which Vice Chair Vinay Patel is on the advisory board and also will serve as a judge, is specifically designed for women in the early stages of their careers in hospitality, real estate, and related fields. Register today.

Chairman Biran Patel gave an AAHOA update at the 2020 Latino Hotel Association Virtual Conference on Tuesday. This year's event, titled "Get a ‘New Normal’ Perspective on Hotel Leadership & Ownership," focused on topics such as "Keeping the Dream of Hotel Ownership Alive," "Achieving Success Amid COVID-19," "Sourcing Financing Today," and "The State of the Hospitality Industry," as well as a Capitol Hill update. 

AAHOA President & CEO Cecil P. Staton joined other industry leaders for a roundtable discussion about current trends, struggles, and successes at the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association’s eighth annual Marketing + Operations Summit on Monday and Tuesday in Destin, FL. The live-in-person event showcased leading industry trends and best practices, and was one of the few the opportunities this year for attendees to network in person. 

AAHOA is hosting upcoming virtual events to share the latest updates for America’s hotel owners in various parts of the United States. Add these events to your calendar now. 

Washington DC Area Regional Director Sandip Patel hosted a live virtual event with IHG on Wednesday. He was joined by Kevin Schramm, VP Mainstream Development, Raul Ortiz VP, Global Holiday Inn, EVEN & Extended Stay Brand Management, Southwest Regional Director Imesh Vaidya, and IHG owner Chet Patel. HotStats’ David Eisen moderated. Click here to view the on-demand video.

The IHG Development team will be hosting Mainstream Brand Seminars to provide AAHOA Members with updates on their mainstream brands as well as details about conversion and franchise opportunities available. These virtual events will be offered regionally and will run through the end of the year. Sign up today to learn more.

In a recent Morning Consult survey, a whopping 72 percent of respondents said concerns about cleanliness and sanitization affect their decision on whether to stay in a hotel. AAHOA has partnered with P&G Professional to create the AAHOA/P&G Professional’s Training in Hotel Sanitization and Cleanliness. This all-digital program covers what hoteliers need to know as it relates to the effective sanitization of your property. This program is completely FREE and is available to the entire hospitality industry. Download our infographic to learn more and sign up for this valuable training today!

AAHOA is bringing you a series of COVID-19-related webcasts that will keep you informed and help determine next steps for your business. We have educated more than 30,000 hoteliers to date and feature more than 170 webcasts separated by category in our library. AAHOA is making these webcasts available to the industry, so share with those in your network, whether they're an AAHOA Member or not. 

 

• Getting Back to Business: Optimize Productivity with a Virtual Revenue Management Assistant, 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday, October 20
• Getting Back to Business: Human Trafficking, Hotels, and COVID-19, 3 p.m. EDT Wdnesday, October 28

Truist Securities (formerly SunTrust Robinson Humphrey) reports, “Economy (-17.4%) was the relatively strongest chain scale for branded hotels; Upper Upscale was the weakest at -70.8%. Upscale (-53.2%) underperformed the industry average; Upper Midscale (-38.7%) outperformed. Last week's results were impacted by another relatively easy comp with Yom Kippur in midweek for 2019 vs. no holiday in 2020. However, the sequential headline change vs. the prior week was limited. At a high level, we view the limited headline RevPAR differential of 60 bps as reflective of the degree or lack thereof of business and group/convention travel in late 2020. It is unclear to us at this point regarding the degree of pent-up leisure from Columbus Day in 2020 (no y/y calendar shift) has played into this year's Friday/Saturday results, but we view rising virus cases in parts of the country combined with cooler weather as limiting factors for y/y leisure outperformance.”

As North America’s leading hospitality procurement services provider, Avendra offers AAHOA Members competitive pricing from its 800+ supplier contracts. Earn huge savings on engineering, rooms operations, administrative, replacement FF&E, and more! Visit www.avendra.com or call 866-AVENDRA and start saving today!

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Designs has maximized clients' rofitability by providing best-in-class products and services through their passionate customer-focused team, in-house manufacturing, and valued partnerships. As a hotel industry expert in design, procurement, production and logistics, Hospitality Designs creates beautiful rooms and spaces. For more information, visit the website, then contact Ruben Cohen today!

The members of AHIA specialize in hospitality industry legal issues and have a minimum of five years' experience for in-house counsel and 10 years' experience for outside counsel. All AHIA members are committed to promoting professionalism, continuing education, and improved communication, which creates a network of competent experienced attorneys committed to improving legal services throughout the hospitality industry. Access their nationwide directory to find a hospitality industry lawyer near you.

As hotels across the U.S. struggle to keep the lights on, there are some long-term strategies that can help. From digitizing billing to using tech to assign housekeeping tasks, hotels can run more efficiently while cutting costs.

Best Western Hotels CEO David Kong explains on CNBC how the hotel industry needs more financial help from the government. With hotels continuing to layoff workers and seeing an unprecedented increase in vacancies, the industry is in dire need of financial assistance.

Industry associations from AAHOA to USTA expressed concern and disappointment in the shutdown of stimulus bill talks. While President Trump halted conversations until after the presidential election before reversing course, hotel associations continue to fight for financial aid from the government.