Regulatory and Legal Affairs

🛌 California, New York, Illinois, and Washington are shifting hotel amenities from single-use toiletries to refillable dispensers to reduce plastic waste and comply with regulations. Refillable systems lower costs, minimize waste, and require less housekeeping effort. They provide a modern, eco-friendly guest experience, gaining guest approval. Concerns include wall installation and hygiene, but modern solutions address these. Refillable dispensers are becoming the standard across US hotels, aligning with evolving guest preferences and regulatory demands.

📈 MEP Niels Flemming Hansen, from Denmark and member of the EPP Group, highlights the crucial role of SMEs in Europe's hospitality sector. He emphasizes simplifying EU rules and reducing red tape to aid SME success. Key challenges include skill shortages and rising costs, calling for digital “one-stop-shops” for compliance. Looking towards 2026, he advocates for digitalization and sustainability as business opportunities, encouraging use of EU funding for green investments to maintain competitiveness and job creation in the sector.

📈 Business rates are set to rise by 10.2% from April 2026, increasing from £33.6bn to £37.1bn. The new high-value business rates multiplier is 50.8p for properties valued at £500,000+, affecting 21,000 properties, with 10,700 in London and the Southeast. The retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) rates relief, capped at £110,000, ends next April. A redesigned £3.2bn Transitional Relief scheme and £500m Supporting Small Business Scheme aim to provide support.

💸 UK: On November 26, 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Autumn Budget, addressing a £20 billion gap with £26 billion in tax hikes and new measures like a sugar tax and overnight stay tax. From April 2026, the National Living Wage rises to £12.71, adding £1.4 billion to hospitality costs. Business tax rates cut for 750,000 properties, offset by higher taxes on properties over £500,000. Inflation to hit 3.5% in 2025. Income tax thresholds frozen until 2030-31.

💰 Income tax and NI thresholds will be frozen until 2031, generating £8bn, while the minimum wage rises by 50p from April 2026. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced measures to address a £20bn fiscal gap. Pension tax breaks above £2,000 will no longer be NI-exempt, raising £4.7bn in 2029-30. A new mansion tax on homes over £2m targets 100,000 properties. The government will introduce a mileage tax on EVs at 3p per mile.

🏨 UKHospitality warns a proposed 5% holiday tax in England could cost domestic travelers up to £518m, affecting over 89 million annual trips. This would raise the VAT on holiday accommodations to 27%, doubling rates compared to Paris and significantly more than Barcelona or Rome. The potential tax, aimed to address cost of living issues, is opposed by UKHospitality chair Kate Nicholls, who argues it will increase consumer costs and inflation. The government has paused for consultation.

💸 Hospitality businesses in the UK face £1.4bn in additional wage costs from April 2026 due to a 4.1% rise in the National Living Wage to £12.71. The rate for 18-20-year-olds will increase by 8.5% to £10.85. UKHospitality emphasizes urgent business rates reform. Almost one million young people are not in employment, education, or training, challenging youth employment. Kate Nicholls, UKH chair, highlights the need to address tax burdens to prevent inflation from rising costs.

🛫 England's mayors are empowered to introduce an overnight accommodation levy to boost transport, infrastructure, and tourism. The levy applies to hotels and similar accommodations, with regional discretion on implementation. A 12-week consultation ends on 18 February 2026. Proponents include mayors from London, Manchester, and the West of England, emphasizing local service reinvestment. However, industry critics warn of increased travel costs, reduced competitiveness, and added pressure on the heavily taxed UK hospitality sector.

💻 November 18, 2025, the European Commission will unveil the Digital Omnibus on November 19, 2025. This initiative, a significant update since GDPR in 2018, aims to simplify EU digital regulations, reducing compliance costs. It addresses data, AI, and cybersecurity, altering cookie consent rules and acknowledging AI as a legitimate interest. It narrows sensitive data definitions and facilitates AI Act implementation. The proposal seeks clearer, streamlined regulations but may add complexity in some areas.