Thanks to the support of our amazing members, 2024 is shaping up to be a banner year for advocacy American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).
This year, we achieved an impressive series of policy victories at all levels of government across the country. Here are highlights of some of our achievements:
Federal Advocacy Victory
At the federal level in 2024, AHLA
- Protecting franchisees and hotel business models by successfully suing the National Labor Relations Board to overturn its joint employer rules;
- Led a coalition that successfully sued the Department of Labor over overtime rules that threatened to impose higher labor costs on hoteliers nationwide starting in 2025;
- Successfully lobbied for a significant increase in per diem allowances for federal employees’ lodging and dining expenses, with lodging increases estimated to be worth more than $86 million to hoteliers;
- Help the Department of Homeland Security obtain congressional authorization to double the number of H-2B visas available in fiscal year 2024;
- Promote the introduction of human trafficking prevention legislation in both chambers—the Hospitality Act, H.R. 9681—that complements the AHLA Foundation’s “No Space for Human Trafficking” program; and
- Secure House passage of the No Hidden Fees Act, which would create a comprehensive single standard for transparent and mandatory fee display across the lodging industry.
State and local advocacy wins
In 2024, AHLA at the state and local level
- Launched an intense lobbying and media campaign in New York City to make significant improvements to a bill that would have caused enormous financial harm to the city’s hospitality industry and economy;
- Help Hawaii pass legislation to curb illegal short-term rentals, which unfairly compete with hotels and make housing unaffordable for local residents;
- Halted New Jersey’s flawed legislation that threatened to undermine the Garden State’s hotel franchising model;
- Defeated multiple city and state burdensome tax policies, including Chicago’s real estate transfer tax and Utah’s temporary tax;
- Expanded the global alliance of national hotel associations to influence policy trends and better support AHLA members worldwide; and
- State and local political programs expanded nearly 40% year over year.
Priorities moving forward
This year, voters across the country welcomed a more business-friendly environment in most jurisdictions, with Republicans winning the presidency and seats in the U.S. House and Senate. This will change the political landscape in 2025, but AHLA’s approach to advocacy remains the same no matter who is in office. We will protect hoteliers’ profits by working to maintain an environment that allows hotel professionals to focus on running and growing their businesses rather than dealing with burdensome laws and harmful policies.
This means supporting business-friendly tax rates and workforce-expanding policies, combating regulatory excess, protecting the hotel franchise model from government interference, and ensuring a level playing field for hotels and short-term rentals. Specific priorities AHLA is pursuing now and through 2025 include
- Extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with more than $4 trillion in tax provisions that will impact hoteliers’ profits;
- Increase the hotel workforce by expanding H-2B visas through bills like the Closing the Workforce Gap Act (H.R. 7262);
- Pass legislation such as the Hotel Fee Transparency Act in the Senate and the No Hidden Fees Act in the House, both of which would set national standards for lodging cost transparency across the industry; and
- Oppose state and local crackdowns on hotels operating orders and red tape that are hurting the economy.
When hoteliers work together, we are strong, and AHLA is proud to represent you and work with legislators on both sides of the aisle to achieve more wins for our great industry in 2025 and beyond. Thank you for your support.
