Q I've heard meteorologists predict that this year's hurricane season will be "very active." What can I do to prepare my property for a hurricane or any other type of natural disaster?

NYU Investment Conference: Legal panel to focus on condo-hotels, resort fees Jun 4, 2007 By: Marcia Layton Turner

Of all the topics among hospitality industry attorneys, mixed-use developments and their complexities appear to be among the hottest issues, according to members of an NYU Hospitality Industry Investment Conference panel called "Hospitality Legal Eagles." The conference is scheduled for June 3-5 at New York's Marriot Marquis Hotel.

The sale or transfer of unionized properties presents special labor and employment law problems and is often confusing, particularly regarding the perceived binding effect of successorship clauses contained in collective-bargaining agreements covering employees of the seller. Here is a breif summary of the rules of the game under th eNational Labor Relations Act.

In March, I moderated a panel of senior hotel executives (primarily chief executive officers) and two prominent Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. franchisees at the AAHOA convention. The panel covered major issues facing the hotel industry. Equally fascinating along with the panel's input were the audience's answers. Illustrative of the issues considered by the AAHOA members are the following:

Franchising of multiple units offers positive and negative challenges to franchisors and franchisees. The most common technique used in the hotel industry in the United States for multiple-unit franchises granted by a franchisor is through area development agreements. The franchisor and franchisee enter into a development agreement that spells out where the franchisee can develop hotels. Usually the territory is given as an exclusive provided the franchisee developer meets the development schedules set forth in the development agreement.

The AHIA will meet at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa May 17-19 for presentations on a wide variety of hospitality law topics.

The seminar is part of a break-out session on lodging that includes the presentations "When the Condo Bubble Breaks?" and "Doing Business in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Beyond."

The hotel industry has been a leader in niche franchising. The concept and technique of a hotel franchisor subbranding its hotel franchise to readily identify a particular customer base has proven to be very successful. As the hotel industry matures, various issues have developed in the process.

Anthony G. Marshall: Industry educator, H&MM law columnist dies Dec 6, 2006

On Dec. 6, Anthony G. Marshall, professor at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, died at his home in Orlando.

International franchise agreements should not be carbon copies of domestic franchise agreements. Changes with hotel and other franchise agreements need to be implemented to ensure appropriate legal and business relations are used in the foreign countries that a franchise is doing business. In particular, these provisions are recommended.

A coalition of union activists is attempting to reverse the trend where union membership in the workplace has declined from a high of 23 percent in 1983 to its current status of about 12 percent of all U.S. workers, but only 8 percent of the private-sector work force. This coalition has targeted future growth in service industries, in particular the hotel industry. The coalition primarily is utilizing four tactics to achieve its goals, namely:

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.—Worried about the surge of condo-hotels in South Florida, more than 10 cities are in the process of passing ordinances regulating condo-hotel operations, but none of them are detrimental to the industry, developers said.

Franchise Law: Technology can help achieve satisfaction, repeat business Aug 7, 2006 By: Mort Aronson

The hotel industry is one of the most competitive in our economy. Hoteliers who use technology to prioritize on guest satisfaction will beat the competition.

More needs to be done in the industry to reduce human and monetary loss.

The terrorist attacks this past fall against three hotels (a Hyatt, a Radisson and a Days Inn) in Amman, Jordan, brought to the world's attention how vulnerable the hotel industry is to such unscrupulous, heinous actions.

Nowhere is the importance of an attorney focusing on the big picture in giving legal advice more evident than in the hotel industry.

A hotel with a record of poor guest safety not only will suffer from financial liability exposures but also reduced occupancy and revenue based on bad publicity and poor public relations.

During negotiations, franchisors need to consider the impact of negotiations on its overall hotel franchise system as it addresses the following issues.

Hotel franchisees often shortchange themselves by not negotiating effectively with franchisors to ensure they obtain the best franchise agreement possible. They often assume that franchisors have fixed positions and there is little room for movement.

In this technological age, it is a challenge for hotel companies—hotel franchisors in particular—to keep up with new technological directions that can, and do, compete with and invade traditional revenues and profits. Nowhere is this more evident than in the field of hotel reservations and bookings.