| Archive | Subscribe | Send to a Friend | www.aahoa.com |
September 15, 2022
 AAHOA News
AAHOA Members and leaders from all over the country flew into Washington, D.C., for AAHOA’s Fall National Advocacy Conference this past Wednesday to make their voices heard and shed light on the issues that matter most to America’s hotel owners. Hoteliers met and built relationships with more than 100 offices and 40 members of Congress to push our policy priorities forward.
The 2022 AAHOA Fall National Advocacy Conference provided the opportunity for America’s hoteliers to connect with legislators in our nation’s capital and engage with a bipartisan group of policy experts and lawmakers who will ultimately vote on bills and pass legislation that can have a tremendous impact on AAHOA’s nearly 20,000 members and the hospitality industry at large.
During Capitol Hill visits, AAHOA advocated for the following issues:
To learn more about AAHOA’s policy priorities and issues advocated for at the 2022 AAHOA Fall National Advocacy Conference, download our Fall National Advocacy Conference Policy Backgrounder and Guide.
The Lodging Conference is taking place next week, September 19-22, at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge. All AAHOA Officers, along with President & CEO Laura Lee Blake, will be panelists during the speaker sessions.
Chairman Neal Patel will be on stage during the General Session on Wednesday, September 21, with Liam Brown, Group President, United States & Canada, Marriott International; Larry Cuculic, President & CEO, Best Western Hotels & Resorts; George Limbert, President, Red Roof; and Rob Hays, President & CEO, Ashford Hospitality Trust, with Glenn Haussman, friend of AAHOA and host of the No Vacancy Podcast moderating.
For more information on The Lodging Conference and to see the agenda, click here.
AAHOA Lifetime Member and franchisee, Vimal Patel, says his Holiday Inn Express hotels in LaPlace, LA, and Donaldsville, LA, experienced significant disruptions last week. InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns Holiday Inn as well as 15 other brands, including Crowne Plaza, said in a recent statement that “parts of its technology systems have been subject to unauthorized activity. [The company] has implemented its response plans and notified relevant regulatory authorities.”
As a result of the data breach, Patel said his hotels operated at less than 50% occupancy last week, estimating they would be at around 75% if the IHG national reservation system was not compromised.
Although his hotel business lost millions of dollars worth of revenue due to the cyberattacks, Patel explained that the biggest challenge was helping frustrated guests and searching for lost reservations. At this time, it is unclear if any personal data was stolen, or who was behind the breach, but IHG sent an update to customers, notifying them it is monitoring the situation closely, supporting owners and operators, and working toward restoring impacted systems.
For more information, see this Hotel & Owner Q&A sheet as well as this communication from IHG CEO Keith Barr.
AAHOA wrapped up its Charity Golf Tournament Series last week, raising a total of $333,529 for more than 18 charities across the U.S. It took all of us, working together, playing together, and donating together, to make this extraordinary impact possible. Thank you to all the AAHOA Members, Industry Partners, sponsors, and vendors who participated in one - or more - of our charity golf tournaments this summer. Your support was instrumental in making these events a success.
Featured Content
The Employee Retention Credit has been one of the most beneficial tax credits available to hotels that have been financially impacted by COVID-19. Due to various updates and changes to the legislation, there remain many misconceptions about business eligibility, which has resulted in an underutilization of this tax credit.
If you think you don't qualify, it's time to take a second look. You can claim up to $26k per employee.
Text Vivek Arora to find out how much you may be eligible for: 781-985-2784.
Ready to hop on a call? Schedule here.
AAHOA in the News
InterContinental Hotels Group, or IHG Hotels & Resorts, confirmed Wednesday that it was hit by a cyberattack, and AAHOA Officers are aware and in communication with IHG Owners Association and other leaders at IHG.
For the past few days, the system outage and unauthorized activity have created disruptions, such as making it difficult for customers to search for hotels, make, view, or modify reservations, or access loyalty accounts.
In a letter to customers, IHG wrote, “IHG’s technology systems have been the subject of unauthorized activity, which has created disruptions across their booking channels, Reservations & Customer Care (RCC) call centers, and internal systems, including Merlin and the IHG Help Desk.”
AAHOA understands this cyberattack has had a detrimental economic impact on our members. IHG has taken full responsibility and acknowledges that this breach has been an extremely disruptive and financially impactful situation.
Events and Happenings
We have officially entered September and AAHOA events are not slowing down! Check out our lineup of events coming your way. Make plans to join us by registering today. (All times are local.)
AAHOA Education
Credit card chargebacks are a fact of life for hoteliers. However, not all credit card disputes are created equal. Join American Express to learn how to prevent and manage credit card disputes. This webinar will also highlight American Express’s updated Damages & Smoking Fee Policy that went into effect October 2019.
In the Market
Truist Securities reports, “Last week’s RevPAR was up against a +62.0% comparable result in 2021 vs. +62.2% in the prior week. On a 3-year run-rate (vs. 2019), RevPAR was -1.8% vs. +24.6% in the prior week’s 3-year run-rate. Upscale RevPAR: +18.2% y/y and -12.7% over 3 years; Upper Midscale RevPAR: +7.3% y/y and -2.5% over 3 years. Versus 2021 (clean Labor Day comp/Rosh Hashanah in 2021): a relatively easy comp due to Rosh Hashanah in prior year. Versus 2019: hard comp due to the calendar shift of Labor Day. Business travel trends post-Labor Day will be easier to analyze starting next week.”
For more, read the full report here, and read the China/Europe report here. 
Featured Club Blue Member
HBO, the oldest and most award-winning premium channel in the U.S., is offering AAHOA Members the chance to earn money back. Members get a rebate of $9 per room (5-year contract) or $7 per room (3-or 4-year contract) when they add or renew HBO at their properties. Click here today to complete the rebate form and get started.
Featured Platinum/Silver Member
PMC Commercial Trust offers conventional and SBA loan programs for the acquisition, refinancing, renovation and construction of businesses with commercial real estate throughout the country as principal lenders. PMC has been granted Preferred Lender (PLP) status from the SBA, which allows for a faster turn-around time at the SBA. Since the early 90’s, PMC’s focus has been on the hospitality industry, assisting start up individuals as well as multi property owners in obtaining the financing that best fits their needs. Visit the website, then contact Kristi Lewis-Hodge (loans@pmctrust.com) to get started.
Featured Member Benefit
Group whole life insurance issued by MassMutual offer for AAHOA Members with special underwriting! Elect up to $250,000 with only a few health questions to determine insurability; no medical exam required! (Must be enrolled through BeneChoice.) Also available to AAHOA Members through BeneChoice – additional benefits for your employees that are made available at no direct cost to you/the owner! To learn more, visit AAHOA.com/lifeinsurance. To schedule an appointment to review your life insurance options, please visit www.calendly.com/aahoa.
Industry News
With conversations happening on a national scale regarding the use of vacant hotel rooms to shelter unhoused citizens, hotels are left wondering whether this is the straw that breaks the industry's back.
(Source: Forbes Photo credit)
While there are countless aspects a hotelier must pay attention to when operating a property, there is a handful of key elements that can make or break a hotel.
(Source: HospitalityNet Photo credit)
At present, the hospitality industry employs more than a million fewer workers than it did in February 2020. While large numbers of minorities have returned to the workplace, women, in particular, have yet to return in similar fashion.
(Source: Washington Monthly Photo credit)
Today's Hotelier: In Case You Missed It
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
1100 Abernathy Road NE - Suite 725
Atlanta, GA 30328 (404) 816-5759 |
|