Choice Hotels International, Red Roof Inn, G6 Hospitality, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, La Quinta Inns & Suites, and RLHC have announced an inspection holiday for franchisees with membership in AAHOA during the 2017 AAHOA Convention & Trade Show.

AAHOA Secretary Jagruti Panwala will speak tomorrow morning as a panelist at the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality (NEWH) Leadership Conference in Denver.

Wondering what the recent SBA policy changes mean for you? With help from Rushi Shah of Founding Member Conlon Capital (formerly Aries Capital), AAHOA has put together a short summary and list of key takeaways for franchisees.

This week, several AAHOA members turned out for a successful State Capitol Hill Day in Little Rock, Arkansas. This event was coordinated with both the Arkansas Hospitality Association and the Arkansas Lodging Association. During the advocacy day, attendees sat down with state lawmakers and discussed critical issues facing hoteliers and small business owners across the state. 

Florida state lawmakers are considering a proposal to cut travel and tourism funding to VISIT FLORIDA, the initiative that encouraged over 106 million people to visit the state in 2015. As hoteliers who rely on the tourism economy to develop our businesses and create jobs, we need to act now to prevent this disastrous legislation from becoming law. Florida hotel owners, click here to send a quick email to your elected officials.

The hearing for Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, has been rescheduled. While we wait for an official date, be sure to take action to support one of America’s most prominent leaders on behalf of the franchise and small business industries. Sign AAHOA’s action alert and tell congress to support Puzder for U.S. Secretary of Labor!

Here’s your chance to watch! The exclusive webinar on chargebacks and dispute management will be made available to AAHOA members once more on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m. EST. AMEX officials will lead a LIVE Q&A session following the webinar. 

AAHOA members from the South Central Texas, North Texas and Southeast Texas regions are strongly encouraged to attend the "Texas Converge on the Capitol" event next week at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. In partnership with the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, this day at the Texas capitol will feature valuable legislative briefings and meetings with elected state officials. Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard!

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Experts at the 2017 Americas Lodging Investment Summit said hoteliers must make sure they’re keeping up with how guests are interacting with their smartphones and determine how to get the most of those behaviors.

The hotel business will always be a challenging one, regardless of whether your founder happens to be the 45th President of the United States or not. Whether the Trump Hotels company can continue its focus on domestic growth, while avoiding the many conflicts of interest and challenges that arise in this unprecedented situation, we’ll have to wait and see.

Hotel loyalty programs have gotten too complicated. Too hard to earn and redeem points, travelers said. Now hotels are changing course. Hilton is the latest major hotel company to overhaul its loyalty program. In addition to rebranding from HHonors to Hilton Honors, and also changing the company name from Hilton Worldwide to just Hilton, the chain is making four major changes to its program. 

It’s a great time to be in the hotel industry – whether you’re building, acquiring or renovating, opportunity abounds. In fact, according to a forecast by STR and Tourism Economics, the hotel industry will post a 2.1 percent growth in demand with only a 1.9 percent growth in supply. This continues a six-year trend of demand growth outpacing supply growth.

As of Jan. 22, 2017, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began requiring all employers to use a new version of Form I-9 for employment eligibility verification. The approved I-9 revisions include the addition of "smart" features for filling out the form as well content-based changes that add new fields and update the language found in others.

The political action committee for AAHOA (AAHOA PAC) has a lot to be proud of in the new Congress. The freshman class of new members in the House and Senate includes six first-time members of Congress that were supported by the PAC.