January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and as a part of AAHOA's continued and concerted effort to stamp out this atrocity, we are today conducting a live online training session. Just last week, AAHOA collaborated with the NFL, AHLA, and FRLA to mobilize the hospitality industry to confront this terrible crime. You can help, too. Join the more-than 4,000 people who have taken the free Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) Inhospitable to Human Trafficking Training Sponsored by AAHOA. Sign up now to help save lives and protect your business.

With National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in full swing, AAHOA is ramping up its efforts to spread awareness and help eradicate this crime against humanity. AAHOA will team with Vision Hospitality Group on January 23 to offer free training to the public to help raise awareness. AAHOA Member Mitch Patel, President & CEO of Vision Hospitality, will give a keynote address at Hilton Garden Inn at Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, TN. For more information, contact PR@VHGHotels.com.

We have great news! Register for the 2020 AAHOA Convention & Trade Show by Feb. 13, 2020, and you could be the lucky winner of four free nights of hotel accommodations at one of AAHOA’s host hotels* during Convention, April 13-16 in Orlando, FL. And that's not all. Lifetime Members**, if you register by Feb. 13, you'll qualify for complimentary registration. If you are not yet an AAHOA Lifetime Member, upgrade today to take advantage of this exclusive offer before you miss out.

 AAHOA reaches its fullest potential through the hard work of our volunteers. Committee members are vital to helping advance the business interests of hotel owners through advocacy, industry leadership, professional development, and so much more. Help AAHOA thrive in 2020 and beyond. Apply to serve on one of these committees today:

 

AAHOA Chairwoman Jagruti Panwala and COO & VP of Franchise Relations Rachel Humphrey recently participated in an in-depth interview on the Lodging Leaders podcast. Jagruti and Rachel addressed AAHOA's ongoing human trafficking awareness and prevention campaign, what it was like to work together to lead the association during the CEO search, their experiences as women leaders in the hospitality industry, and AAHOA's efforts to get more women involved in the industry and in leadership. This podcast is the second of a two-part update about people, campaigns, and programs that are furthering the mission to promote more women into leadership roles in the hospitality industry.

 

AAHOA Lifetime Member and North Carolina Region Ambassador Twinkle Patel was unanimously chosen by the Maggie Valley, NC, Board of Alderman to become the town's new alderwoman. Twinkle beat out five other applicants to fill the seat vacated when the seated alderman was elected mayor. The decision was announced at the town’s board meeting on January 14 immediately following a series of interviews with the five applicants. "I'm very excited and glad to be able to give my time and energy to the town," Twinkle, the CEO of Milestone Hospitality, said. Twinkle, who has lived in Maggie Valley for 14 years, said she is happy to further serve the community her family has been so involved in for so many years. She will officially take office next month.

G6 Hospitality, RLH Corporation, and AAHOA are proud to offer owners access to a FREE AAHOA membership that includes members-only discounts, on-demand access to more than 350 hotelier-specific webinars and workshops, powerful advocacy at both the national and local levels, and so much more. Join more than 19,500 hoteliers who have relied on AAHOA to help them grow and protect their businesses and advocate on their behalf.

 

AAHOA golf tournaments provide a great opportunity for members and industry partners to get together for a fun-filled day of golf and networking, all while making a difference in our communities. This season, AAHOA's 2020 charity golf tournament schedule so far includes events in Albuquerque, NM (May 20), Charlotte, NC (August 1), and Aurora, OR (August 24). Save the date and register today!

 

Town Halls are a great opportunity to build your professional network and learn more about AAHOA programs and resources available to help you strengthen every aspect of your business. These events are open to all hotel owners, even if you're not yet a member. 

Dual- and tri-brand projects are increasingly transforming the hotel pipeline. Combining multiple lodging choices under one roof caters to a wider customer base and offers more flexibility for travelers, while the shared amenities and dining venues provide added value for hotel guests. For hoteliers, multi-brand properties provide a unique opportunity to increase revenue and streamline operations. Take our workshop to learn everything you need to know about building a successful multi-brand property.

Did you know the new overtime rule went into effect January 1? To learn more about the rule and how it might impact your business, tune in to our past webinar "USDOL Overtime Rule 2.0: What You Need to Know" presented by John Mavros, a partner at Fisher Phillips. Learn what the new USDOL OT rule means for you and your business and how you can ensure you are in compliance.

AAHOA's exclusive members-only webinars provide insights on the latest topics and ideas in hotel ownership. Accessible via MyAAHOA.com, sign in today to browse topics, track your professional development goals, and review all of AAHOA's educational offerings. 

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey reports, “Economy (-3.4%) was the relatively strongest chain scale for branded hotels; Luxury was the weakest at -13.5%. Upscale (-7.3%) and Upper Midscale (-5.2%) outperformed the industry average. Given a strong leisure week over the New Year's holiday, we anticipated last week's results (for the week ending 1/11/2020) would have been a very easy comp with relatively stronger corporate demand. That was not necessarily the case as Group RevPAR (a partial proxy for corporate travel) was -22.0% last week. A number of top markets had negative results for much of the workweek. Importantly, we assume the change of dates for the extremely high-rated January health care conference in San Francisco (which moved to this week in 2020 from last week in 2019) and the NCAA football championship (in 2020 on Monday in New Orleans vs. 1/7/19 in Santa Clara [Bay Area], CA) impacted the headline results.”

 

AAHOA Members get discounts on employer-sponsored medical, dental, vision, disability, and other benefit plans. We also offer a FREE Pharmacy Discount Card program that offers savings of up to 75 percent on all FDA-approved prescriptions. For more info, contact Susana Cintron today!

At Curve Hospitality, we combine creative design solutions with our ability to manufacture and deliver contract furnishings. Our experienced hospitality interior design team works closely with clients to turn their vision into a marketable commercial product. As a leading manufacturer of contract furnishings, our buying power and expertise translate into competitive pricing to our interior design hotel customers. Visit our website today!

AAHOA is proud to collaborate with Kennesaw State to establish the Michael Leven and Lee Dushoff AAHOA Scholarship for Compassionate Leadership. This annual scholarship will support students seeking an undergraduate degree in hospitality management. For more on the qualifications and how to apply, please contact Seth Walker or call 470-578-2206. To make a tax-deductible contribution to the scholarship endowment, click here.

Hotels across the U.S. are training and providing resources for staff in honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Month. My Place Hotels designated a training week, "My Place is No Place for Human Trafficking Week," while hotels in Miami, FL, prepared for this year's Super Bowl with heightened awareness and training, as incidents of trafficking have been shown to spike during the event.

The Great Recession of 2008 took a huge toll on hoteliers nationwide. And while an industry-wide slowdown is predicted for the hospitality industry, there are many factors that can cause financial turbulance for hoteliers. Everything from new technology to weather can impact the industry. However, there also are things hoteliers can learn from each of these events to survive and maybe even thrive.

Australia's bushfire crisis is still underway. Local hotels have offered rooms for displaced residents and firefighters working around the clock to get the fires under control. However, support from hotels is coming from across the globe. Hotels have provided financial assistance and food to people affected by the fires, living up to the hospitality name.