News of the revocation of economic sanctions against Sudan by the United States government, is music to the ears of businesses and investors interested in Africa's third largest country after two decades of severe restrictions.
Earlier this year it was announced that the GCC states would introduce a value added tax (VAT) rate of 5% to be levied anytime between 2018 and 2019. The UAE Ministry of Finance has announced that it will be implemented as early as the 1st of January 2018.
In evaluating what you should do about the new furor over mandatory hotel charges, it would be helpful to have a clearer understanding of what the FTC seems to be saying on the issue. The chart below is our translation into "street English" of the FTC pronouncements discussed earlier. (See How Resort Fees became an explosive $2.7 billion issue which contains links to the original FTC press release of November 29, 2012 and the most recent FTC Economic Analysis of Hotel Resort Fees of January 2017.)
Today, a major part of distribution and commercialization is in the hands of the Web giants. The advent of Internet has turned away a large share of clientele who were originally attracted by the force of yesteryear's hotel brands. While it should have allowed for substantial savings on the costs of headquarters in terms of commercialization, it is very difficult to evaluate because hotel chains have also let go of their assets, and a majority of hotels are in the hands of franchisees, who have now become the market's main operators. It would have been better if at the beginning they had done like airlines did with IATA and got together and collaborated with all hotel groups in order to create a booking platform on the web. However, individualities and dualities have made it impossible to create a solid front, despite an initiative between all major players that quickly failed to materialize.
A commercial lawyer with experience in travel, tourism and hospitality issues, has shared with an online gathering of travel and tourism leaders her effective steps to dealing with negative online reviews.Addressing a 23 August MyTravelResearch.com webinar of travel industry leaders, many of them from small businesses, Alyssa Antcliffe, the principal of Antcliffes Legal, told tourism industry leaders and brand managers that having an online presence and being accessible through online platforms is essential in today's digital world.The digital economy has been built on ratings and reviews to enable people to 'window shop' online. However, it only takes one disgruntled former client or customer to ruin a good reputation by posting a negative review, no matter how false or misleading that review might be, she said.Antcliffe added that, usually, what is published online is not intended to be malicious, but is someone's honestly held opinion."In these circumstances, if a comment is substantially true, or represents the honestly held opinion of the reviewer, then a business will have difficulty in bringing a successful defamation claim," she said.Antcliffe suggested that if you believe that you or your business is the victim of unfair, untrue and or defamatory remarks as a result of an online review you should act quickly to minimise the damage.She suggested six strategies designed to help minimise damage and avoid costly legal proceedings:
A growing number of lawsuits alleging discrimination and harassment at some of the U.S.'s most famous restaurants have made headlines recently. To anyone who has worked in foodservice – front or back of house – this is not a recent phenomenon. Across all segments of the industry, allegations of discrimination and harassment are a daily challenge, which begs the question: why are managers, chefs and owner/operators still struggling with how to respond to, address, and resolve the allegations? Will there be lawsuits despite best efforts? Probably. Are best efforts actually always employed to address these issues? Unfortunately, not always.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) held their annual Legislative Action Summit (LAS) on May 17 and 18 in Washington, D.C. Year after year this event brings together a strong showing of general managers, owners, operators, developers, investors, asset managers, hotel employees, and government affairs experts to meet with congressional representatives from their respective states in their Capitol Hill offices to share stories and educate Congress on the issues presently affecting the hotel and lodging industry. The event included remarks from the respective organizations' Presidents and CEO's, briefings from political influencers and members of congress. During the first day, attendees were educated on how to effectively lobby Congress to discuss issues affecting the industry before heading to "the Hill" on the second day for the unique opportunity to meet with their Congressional Representatives and their staffs.
This afternoon in Brussels, GBTA met various leaders including Mr. Tim Figures, Head of the Competitiveness and Market department as part of the Permanent Representation of the United Kingdom to the European Union on this historical day in the future of Europe.
The digital world is a vast, Amazonian river of intellectual property (IP)—software, brands, photos, video clips, music, guest information, guest reviews—flowing quickly in every direction. Almost any significant issue arising in this space highlights the juxtaposition between an IP owner’s desire—in some cases legal obligation—to control and protect its content (i.e. intellectual property) with the desire to have content exposed to more and different consumers and potential consumers, across ever proliferating channels. Ruth Walters of the Seattle-based law firm Garvey Schubert Barer provides some valuable legal insights and advice for us in the hotel world.
We are fortunate to work with some of hospitality's most respected ownership groups, and over the years, we've learned a lot from each other about what makes an effective hotel owner/manager relationship. Certainly, delivering great bottom line results will make for a successful partnership, but here are a few other tips to pave the way for a smooth ride.
"We're kicking off our fun old fashioned family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape, and select that most important of Christmas symbols," Clark Griswold. This is and will most likely be our wave this Christmas season, as we pack up and desert the humdrum cities to follow the magic path leading to our ancestral land, origin, history, culture, and behold our roots.
With Marriott`s $13.6 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels now complete, Marriott chief executive Arne Sorenson will be contemplating how to capture as much value as possible from the deal. As with all such M&A activity though the apparent benefits will only be realized with a well-implemented plan when it comes to bringing together what may be very different corporate cultures.
Marriott closed its acquisition of Starwood on September 23, 2016, following Accor's closing of its acquisition of Fairmont/Raffles on July 12, 2016. Other consolidations may already be underway. In any event, most of us in the hotel industry expect some very important consequences to result from such transactions.
Globalization is largely viewed as an opportunity for Tourism in general because it facilitates international travel and for the hotel industry in particular, which has seen its customer base grow with each passing year. This would truly be an ideal world if this growing strength of exchanges did not go hand in hand with troublesome secondary effects.
Choosing the Right Hotel Management Company is Imperative to The Success of Your Hotel. Here's What to Consider. Whether you have a hotel already, are in the process of acquiring one or have plans to build one in the near future, you're going to want to everything within your power to maximize your investment, right?
Airbnb is rapidly becoming one of those brilliant ideas gone bad. Growing concerns that the "sharing economy" company upsets the natural order of the housing market has spurred lawmakers to curtail the Silicon Valley startup wonder's growth. Now other cities are looking at banning, or limiting Aibnb and other similar companies from disrupting housing markets and neighborhoods.
This is one man's opinion. I am an Independent, so Democrats and Republicans alike will disagree with me. I am not a member of the Lodging Industry Association or the San Diego Hotel Motel Association, so I am not privy to their positions on these issues and many of them will disagree with me. Lastly, I do not own any land or property downtown that would give me any reason to prefer a certain outcome. I'm certain that many will assume I will benefit from my ideas; that goes with the territory. There is nothing here but a love for San Diego and the Chargers. Below are my thoughts.
LIAT Airlines has been a vital factor in the commercial and tourism life blood of the Caribbean for decades. However, the company has now had three CEOs and two Acting CEOs in the last seven years, evidence of LIATs challenges.
Having represented management companies and owner/developers in projects ranging from five-star mixed-use luxury branded resorts to limited-service highway franchised hotels, I have had the opportunity to work on many branded management agreements, third-party management agreements (non-branded) and franchise agreements. From my years of experience, I've compiled a list of key terms and tips for you to live by.
In the last 15 months, over 200 complaints alleging ADA accessibility violations have been filed by three individual plaintiffs against Arizona retailers, restaurants, and hospitality entities. These "tester" cases assert nearly identical allegations related to improper construction of restroom facilities and check-out counters, and, in the case of hotels, failure to provide a pool lift. Two of the plaintiffs claim to reside in Arizona and one resides out of state, but all threen seek the same remedies: injunctive relief to retrofit the property and attorneys' fees and costs.