WASHINGTON—The American Lodge & Lodging Affiliation (AHLA) urged congressional leaders to take up vital laws that might shield shoppers from hidden charges of their resort reserving journey earlier than the 118th Congress ends Jan. 3, 2025.
In a letter to Home and Senate leaders, AHLA President and CEO Rosanna Maietta referred to as on lawmakers to maneuver lodging charge transparency laws—the Home-passed No Hidden FEES Act or the Senate’s Lodge Charges Transparency Act—to President Biden’s desk. These payments would shield shoppers by establishing a single and clear nationwide normal for necessary lodging charge shows.
Maietta additionally referred to as on lawmakers to take up the HOTEL Act, which might encourage federal staff touring for enterprise to remain in lodges with anti-human trafficking applications.
AHLA has rallied hoteliers round insurance policies to guard shoppers and friends and has led latest efforts to determine a federal normal for lodging charge transparency. Moreover, the AHLA Basis’s No Room for Trafficking initiative has been serving to hoteliers establish and cease situations of human trafficking since 2019.
In her letter, Maietta additionally urged Congress to cross two different key items of laws: the Closing the Workforce Hole Act, which might assist hoteliers address the nationwide labor scarcity, and the Purple Tape Discount Act, which might assist account for substantial sums of unreported revenue inside the short-term rental trade.
“From rising the workforce, to defending shoppers, stopping human trafficking, and slicing purple tape, these commonsense, bipartisan insurance policies are a win-win for hoteliers, staff, and shoppers. We encourage lawmakers to assist their swift passage,” mentioned Maietta.
The resort trade helps almost 1 in 25 U.S. jobs, and this yr lodges are projected to pay staff a document $123 billion in wages, salaries, and different compensation whereas producing almost $83.4 billion in tax income.
Background Data
- The Home-passed No Hidden FEES Act (H.R. 6543) and the Lodge Charges Transparency Act of 2024 (S. 2498) would shield shoppers by establishing a single and clear nationwide normal for necessary lodging charge shows. That normal would guarantee potential resort friends have entry to all-in, up-front pricing info throughout the whole lodging trade, together with short-term leases, on-line journey companies, metasearch websites, and lodges.
- The HOTEL Act (H.R. 9681) would assist forestall human trafficking and shield the federal workforce by encouraging federal staff touring for enterprise to remain at lodges with anti-human trafficking applications. To qualify below the invoice, resort coaching should be developed in session with both a state authorities, human trafficking survivors, survivor-led anti-trafficking organizations, or any group that’s nationally acknowledged for its experience on this space—as an example, the AHLA Basis.
- The Closing the Workforce Hole Act (H.R. 7574) would assist hoteliers cope with ongoing labor shortages by changing the arbitrary annual cap of 66,000 accessible H-2B short-term visas with a brand new, needs-based system.
- The Purple Tape Discount Act (S. 1725) would take an vital step towards making a extra stage enjoying area between the resort and lodging trade and different lodging, equivalent to short-term leases.
