Arizona: new immigration law detrimental to tourism?

Many officials in Arizona's tourism and hospitality industry fear that the state's new immigration law is anything but hospitable. Hotel owners, tour operators and convention executives say the law could discourage visitors and companies from meeting there at a time when one of the state's vital industries already is suffering. There are already some calls for an economic boycott.

Source: USA today; find article here>>.

Kenya: New regulatory regime for hospitality sector

To ensure quality and compliance with relevant other laws and regulations and promoting excellence in the hospitality sector, all new hotel, resort, and lodge projects in Kenya require to be licensed first, before commencing any construction, by a newly-inaugurated Hotel and Restaurant Authority.

The authority will also embark on a nationwide exercise of grading and classification, using the East African Community regulatory regime now in place for all the five member states.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

International Tourism Law Seminar @ Beja (Portugal)

Next Friday, November 6th, the Polytechnic of Beja, in Portugal, will hold an International Seminar on Tourism Law.

Organized with the support of the University of the Balearic Island, in Spain, the event will be focused on the regulation of hospitality, in Portugal and Spain.

The event counts with presentations by some of the most known lecturers of Portugal and Spain, namely Professors:
José Ángel Torres Lana, María Nélida Tur Faúndez, Antonia Paniza Fullana and María Belén Ferrer Tapia, from the University of the Balearic Islands, Spain;
Verónica San Julián, from the University of Navarre, Spain;
Virgílio Machado, João Almeida Vidal and Afonso Ribeiro Café, from the University of the Algarve, Spain;
Manuel David Masseno, from the Polytechnic of Beja.

SIDETUR - the IberoAmerican Society for Tourism Law is supporting this Seminar.

Austria: Hospital or Hotel?

An Austrian hotelier let some parts of his hotel to a doctor to run her surgery. The doctor offered health treatments related to cardiovascular diseases to the hotel guests as well as outsiders whereas the appointments were to be made through the hotel recpetion and - as far as hotel guests were concerned - treatments were billed together with the room fee.
Local authorities accused the hotelier of having turned his hotel into a hospital or sanatorium without the necessary licence and imposed administrative fines on him. He appealed to the Austrian Administrative Court. In a decison of Dec. 12, 2008 (Case 2006/11/0093), Administrative Court held that the services rendered by the hotelier would not amount to the typical services of a hospital or sanatorium and there was no evidence that the furnishing of the hotel had been similar to such institutions. The Court therefore repealed the penalty as unlawful.

California: tax ruling against online travel companies

After years of underpaying transient occupancy taxes on hotel rooms, U.S. top online travel companies are being forced to pay the City of Anaheim the difference, plus penalties and interest, said a spokesman for the city's legal counsel. The US$21.3 million ruling is expected to influence a host of similar suits filed on behalf of local governments throughout the country.
At issue in the case was the companies' tax liability per the Anaheim Municipal Code - and the assessment of taxes owed over an undetermined period of time. According to the hearing officer, the defendants in the case will be required to pay the 15 percent transient occupancy taxes on the difference between the wholesale and retail rates of hotel rooms they purchased and resold in Anaheim between 2000-2008, as well as all service fees associated with the transactions.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

USA: Online travel companies win at federal appellate court in hotel occupancy tax case

The Interactive Travel Services Association announced that a federal appellate court has affirmed the dismissal of a suit brought by Pitt County, North Carolina, which claimed that online travel companies, including Hotels.com, Expedia, priceline.com, Orbitz, and Travelocity are responsible for paying the county's hotel occupancy tax.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's decision of Jan. 14, 2009, rejecting Pitt County's tax claims is the first appellate decision by any federal or state court nationwide on the merits of the occupancy tax issue. In rejecting Pitt County's appeal, the court ruled that under the clear language of the county's occupancy tax ordinance and North Carolina's state sales tax statute (G.S. 105-164.4), the online travel companies are not lodging "retailers" subject to the tax.

Source: press release of Jan. 15, 2009; find full text here>>.

Tanzania: towards a system for hotel classification

Tanzania is looking at modalities and ideas from tourist stakeholders on best options that would help to grade tourist accommodation facilities and make them match with those in other countries in the East African bloc. In November 2006, the East African Community (EAC)’s Council of Ministers approved the EAC classification and standardization criteria to be used in East African partner states in line with the EAC Treaty, Article 115(2), which gives a greenlight to the grading exercise of the accommodation facilities.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

"Cuba lifts ban on citizens staying in tourist hotels"

According to the International Herald Tribune, "New President Raul Castro's government has lifted a ban on Cubans staying at hotels previously reserved for foreigners, ending another restriction that had been especially irksome to ordinary citizens.
'They have informed us that with a national ID card, anyone can stay here,' an employee at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in Old Havana. She insisted on anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to foreign reporters, but said non-guests who are Cuban nationals will also be allowed to pay to enjoy other hotel services, including gyms." Read more>>

"Tourism in the EU27: Nights spent in hotels rose by 3.1% in 2007"

As stated by the EU Press Room, "In 2007, 1 578 million nights were spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU27, which is an increase of 3.1% compared with 2006. Hotel nights spent by residents in their own country increased by 3.6% to 856 million, while for non-residents hotel nights rose by 2.4% to 722 million. For comparison, the growth rate of total nights spent in hotels in the EU27 was 4.3% in 2006 and 4.6% in 2005."

This Press Release is available in full text.

Austria: Parents not bound to check hotel facilities for possible sources of danger to their children

A nine year old girl was injured in a "familiy hotel" when running against a glass door which due to lightning conditions was hardly visible when shut and not made of safety glass. She successfully claimed for compensation for pain and suffering against the tour operator. Court held that even when her mother had been negligent by not warning her daughter of the dangers of the glass door, this could not be attributed to the claimant as contributory negligence.
Following this decision the tour operator's insurer claimed back half of the compensation paid to the girl from her mother, arguing that due to the judgement she had contributed to the accident at fault. Reasonings of the jugdement against the tour operator were binding for her as she had been given third party notice.
Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) at the contrary held that there was no binding character of the specific reason as it had not been relevant for the decision against the tour operator. There was no negligence of the mother as parents were not bound to check hotel for any possible source of danger to their children.

OGH 11.12.2007, 4 Ob 211/07v; decision available in German here.

Austria: Hotel Association argues for voluntary Smoking Ban

While Austrian Government is still struggling with a smoking ban in restaurants, the chairman of the Hotel Association on Wednesday hurried ahead with the proposal to introduce a general smoking ban in all Austrian hotels. The idea was immediately citisized by the tourism section of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, not only representing hoteliers but also owners of small restaurants who refuse to accept a smoking ban.

6th Annual Hospitality Law Conference

Organized by HospitalityLawyer.com, the 6th Annual Hospitality Law Conference, will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.

Full information is available here.

"Almulla Launches World’s First International Sharia Compliant Hotel Chain"

"Dubai-based hospitality group Almulla, today launched the world’s first Sharia compliant hotel brand portfolio under three core brand names of Cliftonwood, Adham and Wings. The hotel group strategic plan calls for 30 properties by the end of 2008.
'There are plenty of individual Sharia compliant hotels throughout the world. However their positioning is usually dictated by the owner, either as an independent hotel, one within a chain or due to the Sharia law of country where they are situated,' commented Abdulla M Almulla, Chairman of Almulla Hospitality. 'Our brand proposition is so distinct that guests will be confident that our brand values have universal consistency.'." Read more>>

Source: Middle East Business News.

"Are Hotels Breaking Competition Law?"

"When the leaders of the European inbound travel industry meet this coming 9th November at The Global European Marketplace at Earls Court, London, they will be considering some questions that could have a dramatic impact on the way the tourism market operates. One of these is the vexed issue of price collusion.

Hotels often seek to ensure that their published rates are not undercut. They have been known to insist on a guarantee that the price the operator sells to the public does not differ from their own advertised price.

• Do such agreements constitute price fixing?
• What are the penalties for agreeing to this?
• How can agreements be made without falling foul of competition law?
  

These questions go to the heart of the way the market for hotel accommodation operates, as many hotels seek to ensure the prices to consumers on their own web sites are the lowest in the market.
Neil Baylis, an expert in European competition law from the law firm K&L Gates, will explore these issues in depth and explain what is and what is not lawful." Read more>>

Source: ForImmediateRelease.Net

"Rules for tourist home stays under way"

As reported by Wangui Maina, at Business Daily Africa, "The Ministry of Tourism is considering guidelines to encourage home stays to address bed shortage.
The move will see home owners with extra space get registration to accommodate tourists on their premises, at a cost, and under guidelines stipulated by the ministry.
Currently, there are no proper guidelines on where home stays can be licensed or even a star rating for the facilities as is the case in destinations like South Africa.
Speaking to Business Daily, Mr Mwangi Gakunga, the public relations officer at the Ministry of Tourism, said there was no data on how many home stays there are in the country. 'So far, there are also no clear guidelines on where home stays can be found. However, we are working toward putting them in place,' he added." Read more >>

"Commission clears acquisition of nine European hotels in the Hilton chain by Morgan Stanley"

According to the EU Press Room, "The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of a portfolio of nine European hotels, currently controlled by Hilton Hotels Corporation (Hilton) of the US by Morgan Stanley Real Estate F International Funding, L.P. (MSREF) of the US, part of the Morgan Stanley group of companies (MS) of the US. MSREF is active in real estate investment and management. MS is a global financial services institution. Hilton owns, manages and franchises hotels. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure."

Germany: Tour Operator liable for thrown shoes

Plaintiff claimed for damages suffered from an accident which occurred when she attended an evening acitivity at the holiday club where she spent her holidays on a package tour. As part of a game the presenter of the evening perfomance had told a child on the stage: "I bet your mum won't be able to collect 60 different shoes within two minutes" when people in the audience began to throw over their shoes to the stage. One stiletto-heeled shoe hit plaintiff who was sitting in the first row at the back of her head.
German Supreme Court (BGH) in a decision of 12. June 2007 held that the tour operator was liable as the accident constituted a defect of the performance of his contractual obligations because the presenter of the show acting as auxiliary person of the tour operator when offering the bet could have foreseen that some people might throw shoes to the stage and had failed to enjoin the audience from doing so.

Source: BGH press release 82/2007.

"New classification system on anvil for hotels in Qatar"

The Gulf Times reveals that "QATAR Tourism Authority (QTA), together with GATO, an international tourism organisation, is formulating a new hotel classification system with a view to improving the overall quality of the Qatari hospitality industry.
[...]
International benchmarks and guest surveys have clearly indicated that an ever increasing emphasis is placed on service quality. To cater to the shifting consumer demand and achieve a sustainable development, a two-tiered hotel classification system has been selected for the roll out of the new hotel classification system."

Read this in full text!

Court of Justice Finds Distribution of a Signal by Means of TV Sets by a Hotel to its Customers Protected by Copyright

The SGAE (the body responsible for the management of intellectual property rights in Spain) took the view that the use of television sets and the playing of ambient music within the hotel owned by Rafael Hotels SA involved communication to the public of works belonging to the repertoire which it manages. Considering that those acts gave rise to breach of copyright, SGAE brought an action before the Spanish courts. The Audiencia Provincial (Provincial Court) of Barcelona referred the matter to the Court of Justice. In the decision of 7th Dec. 2006 (Case C-306/05), the Court pointed out, that the concept of ‘communication to the public’ had to be interpreted broadly in order to achieve the principal objective of the directive, that is to establish a high level of protection in favour, amongst others, of authors, allowing them to obtain an appropriate reward for the use of their works, in particular when these were communicated to the public. It was necessary to take into account the fact that, usually, hotel customers quickly succeed each other. As a general rule, a fairly large number of persons are involved, so that they may be considered to be a public, having regard to the principal objective of the directive. Therefore, if, by means of television sets thus installed, the hotel distributed the signal to customers staying in its rooms or present in any other area of the hotel, a communication to the public took place, irrespective of the technique used to transmit the signal. The private or public nature of the place where the communication takes place was immaterial.
Source: ECJ Press Release 95/06,
http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp06/aff/cp060095en.pdf

(Originally posted by Michael Wukoschitz)

The Anthony G. Marshall Hospitality Law Award

"HOUSTON – HospitalityLawyer.com is proud to announce the following nominees for the Anthony G. Marshall Hospitality Law Award:

• Jim Butler - Chairman, Global Hospitality Group of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro
• Madeleine Kleiner - Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Hilton Hotels Corporation
• Andria Ryan - Partner, Fisher & Phillips
• Irv Sandman - Shareholder, Graham & Dunn, P.C.
• Arch Stokes - Shareholder and Executive Director, Shea Stokes & Carter
• Stephen Barth - Professor of Hospitality Law and Leadership, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management

The Anthony G. Marshall Award honoree will be announced on February 8, 2007, during the two-day Fifth Annual Hospitality Law Conference in Houston, Texas.
Each year at the Annual Hospitality Law Conference, the Marshall Award is given to someone who has made pioneering and lasting contributions to the field of hospitality law. In presenting the award, the selection board seeks to recognize someone who exemplifies Mr. Marshall's commitment to hospitality law. This will be the third year the Award will be presented.
Anthony Marshall himself received the Award the first year, with Banks Brown, General Counsel to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Hotel Association of New York City and the Travel Business Roundtable, receiving the Award at last year's Conference.

For more information, please contact Jeanie Gibbs at 713-963-8800 or at jeanie@hospitalitylawyer.com."