HFTP® Acquires Leading Hospitality Industry Brands: Hospitality Upgrade, Hotel-Online, The CIO Summit and The Executive Vendor Summit
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals | June 25th, 2024
Statement by U.S. Travel on Reported Extension of Mask Mandate
U.S. Travel Association | August 18, 2021
WASHINGTON — August 18, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the Transportation Security Administration’s extension of the mask mandate through January 2022: “Extending the federal mask mandate for travel makes sense for the current health environment and has the travel industry’s full support. “The universal wearing of masks in airports and on airplanes, trains and other forms of public transportation is both an effective safeguard against spreading the virus and boosts public confidence in traveling—both of which are par...
Puerto Rico’s Brad Dean Named State Tourism Director of the Year
U.S. Travel Association | August 17, 2021
LOS ANGELES — August 17, 2021 — Brad Dean, Chief Executive Officer of Discover Puerto Rico, has been named national State Tourism Director of the Year for 2021, marking the first win for Puerto Rico. Dean was announced as the honoree before more than 650 destination marketing professionals attending the U.S. Travel Association's annual Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) conference, the premier annual gathering for destination and tourism leaders, held live in Los Angeles. U.S. Travel's National Council of State Tourism Directors—a body representing the tourism offices of all states and U.S. territories—votes on th...
Lodging Interactive Celebrates 20 Years of Digital Success
Lodging Interactive | August 16, 2021
Lodging Interactive, an award-winning digital marketing and social media engagement agency exclusively serving the hospitality industry celebrates its 20th anniversary. Lodging Interactive has been helping hundreds of hospitality customers since 2001 and the company shows no signs of slowing down as it continues its growth through ongoing diversification. “August marks the month, 20 years ago, when we decided to launch Lodging Interactive and it’s hard to believe the business has grown from a blank sheet of paper to where it is today, a multi-million dollar successful enterprise employing many,” said DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive’...
AHLA Statement on GSA FY2022 Per Diem Rates
AHLA | August 13, 2021
WASHINGTON – August 13, 2021 – American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) President and CEO Chip Rogers released the below statement after the General Services Administration (GSA) announced it would freeze FY2022 federal per diem rates for government travel in the Continental United States at FY2021 levels, which are based on pre-COVID-19 rates. “AHLA thanks the General Services Administration (GSA) for setting fair FY2022 per diem rates that recognize the devastating impact COVID-19 continues to have on hotel employees and small businesses. This is a big win for hoteliers across the country, as government travel supports te...
AAHOA Presents Advocacy Award to Bijal Patel
AAHOA | August 12, 2021
Bijal Patel, Chairman of the California Hotel & Lodging Association (CHLA) for 2020 – 2021, has won AAHOA’s prestigious Political Forum Award for Advocacy. Presented during AAHOA’s 2021 national convention held in Dallas last week, the award recognizes Patel for guiding numerous successful advocacy initiatives on behalf of hotel owners during “the year of the pandemic.” “Government officials have a more profound impact than ever on the bottom line of hotel owners,” said Patel in accepting the award. “Our advocacy activities focus on making sure that hoteliers are helped more and harmed less by the decisions of legi...
A Small Hotel on the Frontlines With the Delta Variant
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | August 11, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky The delta variant is slowly but inevitably absorbing the news cycle heading into Autumn 2021 as cases swell across the world and governments take pre-emptive measures to stop a fourth wave of COVID-19 from triggering another round of economically harmful lockdowns. Even though all of us yearn for this pandemic to be over, sadly we’re still very much in uncharted water. Given this uncertainty, all hoteliers can really do is react and pivot as quickly as possible. Here is one such case study we’ve been authorized to report upon so that you can see how a small hotel handles the situation on the ground and i...
STR: 2021-22 School Break Calendars Revert to More Traditional Learning
STR | August 11, 2021
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee — August 11, 2021 — After a year of shifts toward e-learning throughout the U.S., STR’s annual School Break Report shows less scheduled remote coursework on the academic calendar for the upcoming year. The report summarizes vacation break dates in 2021-22 for a robust sample of U.S. public K-12 school districts, colleges and universities. The pandemic has affected the approach to academic scheduling for both K-12 school and universities, and STR implemented extra measures to ensure the accuracy of 2021-22 calendar dates with additional information included regarding e-learning (remote) scheduling. ...
NTTO Launches Two New Data Tools Analyzing International Visitors to the United States
The National Travel and Tourism Office | August 11, 2021
August 11, 2021 – Today, the International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) is pleased to announce the of release the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) Inbound Monitor as well as enhanced Inbound Market and Sector Profiles. Both products provide users a spectrum of tools and statistics on international visitation to the United States—data that businesses, communities and government leaders need as our hard-hit travel and tourism industry recovers from COVID-19 and seeks to expand the number of U.S. destinations overseas travelers visit. The SIAT Inbound Survey Monitor (Monitor) is a new da...
U.S. Travel Applauds Infrastructure Bill Senate Passage
U.S. Travel Association | August 11, 2021
WASHINGTON — August 11, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: “This is a major step forward in securing a more modern and connected future for the United States, travelers and the American travel industry. The funding levels and investments in the bill will help revolutionize the way people move and travel throughout the U.S., and increase our global competitiveness as we rebuild from the pandemic and welcome back visitors from around the world. “The bill provides crucial investments to impr...
Arne Sorenson to Receive Above and Beyond Lifetime Achievement Award Posthumously at 26th Annual “The Lodging Conference” in Phoenix This
The Lodging Conference | August 11, 2021
Phoenix, AZ — August 11, 2021 — Harry Javer, Producer and Founder of The Lodging Conference, one of the industry’s leading events for Hotel Owners, CEO's and Deal Makers, announced today that Arne Sorenson, the beloved former President & CEO of Marriott International, has been selected posthumously as the recipient of the 2021 Above and Beyond Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented at The Lodging Conference on September 29, 2021. The prestigious Above and Beyond Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has provided outstanding, life-long contributions to the hospitality industry. Past recipient...
AHLA Statement on Senate Passage of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
AHLA | August 11, 2021
WASHINGTON – August 11, 2021 – American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) President and CEO Chip Rogers released the below statement following Senate passage of a bipartisan infrastructure package. “Hotel employees and small businesses depend on reliable and modern infrastructure. It enables travel, facilitates commerce and increases America’s competitiveness. The investments in this package will help create better experiences for those traveling to and from hotels across our nation, but we are concerned with certain offsets that could negatively impact important programs like the Employee Retention Tax Credit. We look...
Statement by U.S. Travel on Canadian Land Border Reopening
U.S. Travel Association | August 10, 2021
WASHINGTON — August 10, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on today’s lifting of restrictions for fully vaccinated American travelers at the Canada land border: “Today, Canada begins welcoming fully vaccinated Americans back across the land border. This wise decision will spur the kind of economic recovery for our northern neighbor that’s critically needed on this side of the border as well." “Reopening the U.S. land border to fully vaccinated Canadians would mark a good starting point towards rebuilding our own travel economy, and the Biden administration should recipro...
Cornell Webinar Recap: Preparing for the Return of Business Meetings, Conferences and Travel: Is High-Tech the New High-Touch?
the School of Hotel Administration at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business | August 9, 2021
On June 15th, four hospitality and technology industry experts joined School of Hotel Administration (SHA) Professor Chekitan Dev to discuss the post-pandemic outlook for business travel in a keynote webinar titled Your Itinerary: Preparing for the Comeback of Business Meetings, Conferences, and Travel, presented by the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) and eCornell. The panelists included Yaron Lipshitz, chief executive officer of Allseated; Jacqueline Nunley, senior industry advisor for travel and hospitality at Salesforce; Greg Land, global industry leader for aviation, hospitality, and travel-related services at IBM; and ...
Ian Schrager Announces Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccination for All Visitors to Public Hotel
August 6, 2021
NEW YORK - August 6, 2021 - Ian Schrager has today announced that all guests, visitors and staff to his pioneering downtown PUBLIC hotel will be required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination upon arrival. This is the first hotel in New York City to introduce such regulations. Ian Schrager commented, ‘The health, safety, and wellbeing of our guests and staff is the only thing that matters to us. Naturally, we will do everything and anything we can possibly do to protect them. After all, we have been entrusted to look after them while they are with us. We take that responsibility to heart. With these measures in place our guests will be abl...
U.S. Travel Reacts to Reported Int’l Reopening Plans
U.S. Travel Association | August 6, 2021
WASHINGTON — August 6, 2021 — U.S. Travel Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on reports that the Biden administration will first reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers: “The U.S. travel industry welcomes reports that the Biden administration is building a plan to reopen our borders to fully vaccinated international travelers from countries long impacted by the 212(f) travel restrictions—an important first step to welcoming back millions of visitors from some of our top inbound markets. “Every week that travel bans on the UK, EU, and Canada remain in plac...
AHLA Statement on COVID-19 Delta Variant and Updated CDC Mask Guidance
AHLA | August 5, 2021
WASHINGTON – August 5, 2021 – The following is a statement from Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, on updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) face-covering guidance due to the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. “As cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant continue to grow in the U.S., hotels will implement safety guidelines based off CDC guidance, and in accordance with state and local laws. As outlined by the CDC, the circumstances for a change in mask requirements are local, not national, and may be temporary depending upon location. Therefore, we encourage each hotel ...
U.S. Travel Applauds Committee Passage of Restoring Brand USA Act
U.S. Travel Association | August 5, 2021
WASHINGTON — August 5, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s approval of the Restoring Brand USA Act (S. 2424), a bill to provide emergency funding to the United States’ destination marketing organization: “As we look to rebuild the travel economy from the devastating effects of the pandemic, it’s no overstatement to say the work of Brand USA has never been more essential. Brand USA has a proven record of generating a significant return-on-investment, delivering...
Hospitality Industry Conferences Happening In-Person; AAHOA This Week, HITEC and the HFTP Annual Convention Scheduled for September
HFTP | August 4, 2021
This week the annual conference for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) opened to a positive and enthusiastic group of attendees in Dallas, Texas, demonstrating the interest in professional, in-person meetings. Coming up on the calendar for industry events is the 2021 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) and the HFTP Annual Convention. The producers Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) is planning the event with its co-located Annual Convention, and registrants for both events will have full access to the program for both events. In consideration of the ongoing pande...
ALIS Conference Perspectives
Rod Clough | August 2, 2021
By Rod Clough The ALIS Conference came and went this week, bringing Downtown L.A. hotels to life with optimism and hope that normal for the hotel industry is coming in the not-too-distant future. Here are some collective takeaways from our team that was in attendance. Market Performance The recovery remains a submarket story, with no overall trend driving the nation’s performance as a whole and little consistency in the recovery from market to market. Some markets are seeing strong recovery and are operating at or even above 2019 levels, while others are lagging. The recovery is not only underway in leisure-oriented m...
Siegel Sez: Get On Your Surfboard, The Next Wave Is Here!
July 30, 2021
Siegel Sez July 30, 2021 This has been one of my favorite weeks. Yes, we all must deal with COVID-19 updates, which seem to be all over the place and has people wondering about the impact on travel. However, perseverance seems to be driving the belief that the recovery will continue on a positive path. This is the week we have received many registrations for our 19th CIO Summit, which will be held in Atlanta. The registrations have led to conversations with the industry technology leaders, and that part, I just love. Everyone has a story to share, and I keep thinking how they will be shared over the course of our event September 8-10. We...
U.S. Travel Reacts to Updated CDC Guidance
U.S. Travel Association | July 29, 2021
WASHINGTON — June 29, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the CDC’s updated guidance announced yesterday: “As noted by President Biden, the updated guidance from the CDC marks another phase for America in navigating the pandemic. “From the onset, we have said our industry will follow the guidance of public health authorities. The last thing we want is a backslide in the nascent recovery of travel, particularly as business travel slowly begins to rebuild. Adhering to the CDC guidance allows Americans to safely continue the return to our professional lives, including in-pe...
Hotel Internet Services Showcases Latest in Guest Connectivity, Experience Personalization and Contactless Service at AAHOACON 2021
Hotel Internet Services, Inc. | July 29, 2021
Leading provider of Wi-Fi and IoT-based services set to offer valuable insight into how hoteliers can simultaneously address guest expectations for instant satisfaction, custom-tailored entertainment and germ-free room environments. CLEARWATER, Fla. — July 29, 2021 — Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, is proud to announce its participation as an official exhibitor for the upcoming AAHOA 2021 Conference, taking place August 3-6 in Dallas, Texas. Set to exhibit its latest advances in guestroom entertainment, online connectivity and contactless-com...
U.S. Travel Endorses Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, Urges Congress to Press Ahead
U.S. Travel Association | July 28, 2021
WASHINGTON — July 28, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the bipartisan infrastructure framework: “The travel industry is not just focused on recovery from the pandemic—we’re setting our sights on how we can rebuild our industry and come back more competitive and connected than before. The funding levels and investments outlined in the bipartisan framework could revolutionize the way people move and travel in the United States, ensuring safer, more efficient systems for generations to come. “The framework would move our in...
U.S. Travel Reacts to England Reopening Plan
U.S. Travel Association | July 28, 2021
WASHINGTON — July 28, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the news that England would soon begin welcoming fully vaccinated Americans: “British government leaders have made a wise decision in reopening England to vaccinated travelers from the United States. It’s time for U.S. leaders to do the same and set a timeline to reopen our national borders—and we encourage them to start with vaccinated travelers from the U.K., E.U. and Canada. The reality is there’s no difference between a vaccinated American and those vaccinated in th...
