Regulatory and Legal Affairs

📍 Key European travel and tourism organizations met in the European Parliament with Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas and MEP Daniel Attard to advance sustainability and resilience in the sector. The meeting builds on the April 2024 Joint Declaration made in Rhodes, aiming for decarbonisation and cross-sector collaboration. Commissioner Tzitzikostas plans to introduce a Sustainable Tourism Strategy for climate change adaptation. The organizations, including A4E, ACI EUROPE, CLIA, ECTAA, EEIA, ERA, HOTREC, IAAPA, IRU, and RURALTOUR, seek policy support and targeted funding for sustainable transformation.

🏠 In Italy, rental accommodation owners must now meet guests in person due to a ban effective from 18 November, targeting Airbnb and Booking properties. This measure, in response to safety and public order risks, requires personal guest details to be sent to police within 24 hours of check-in. The ban comes amid discontent in cities like Rome, Florence, and Milan over rising housing prices and disturbances caused by rental properties. The 2025 Jubilee celebrations in Rome partly prompted the new rule.

🌱 Preferred Travel Group, in partnership with the Travel Foundation, launches its Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve Net Zero by 2050, aligned with the Glasgow Declaration. The plan includes five key pathways: Measure, Decarbonize, Regenerate, Collaborate, and Finance. The company conducted a baseline emissions inventory, establishing objectives aligned with the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Declaration, and prioritized actions via a structured scoring system. By 2025, they aim to refine policies and engage associates to reduce Scope 3 emissions from business travel and events, leveraging a Climate Task Force and Climate Steering Committee for strategic implementation.

🏨 Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG), an Atlanta-based hotel operator, added eight new hotels in 2023, expanding its portfolio to 51 properties with roughly 1,200 new rooms. This growth led to an increase of over $60 million in asset value. HVMG, deriving 70% of revenue from full-service hotels, was also ranked in the top 20 of Atlanta's Top Workplaces 2024 by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for the sixth consecutive year, from more than 8,000 applicants. The company manages over 8,700 rooms across 17 states.

🏦 The four-star Hotel Dei Cavalieri – Milan Duomo, a member of the Dei Cavalieri Collection Group, received the "Strutture Ricettive Storiche e di Qualità" award from the Lombardy Region for its excellence in hospitality and cultural heritage. Established under Article 78 of Regional Law 27/2015, the accolade honors the hotel's historical and architectural merit. Built in 1949 with a design by Emilio Lancia, the hotel is known for its trapezoidal shape and curved façade, which is now protected as a cultural heritage site.

📰 In a court ruling next year, Google may face various antitrust remedies, including the possibility of selling its Chrome browser. The DOJ's request last week aims to dissolve Google's perceived search monopoly. Google currently holds around 60% of the US browser market through Chrome. Judge Amit Mehta declared Google an illegal monopolist in general search services and search text advertising. Proposals suggested include not only divesting Chrome but also sharing search data and avoiding self-preferencing. Such changes could significantly impact Google's business, with potential revenue losses from search data syndication alone predicted to be up to 10%, akin to Meta's $10 billion hit from Apple's privacy policy. The trial set for April, with a diverse range of outcomes, could see billions shaved off Google's empire and a reshaped digital landscape.

💸 Californians voted against Proposition 32—50.8% opposed—blocking an increase of the state minimum wage from $16 to $18 by 2026. The Associated Press confirmed the results on Election Day. California still maintains a high minimum wage, second to Washington State's $16.66 starting January 1, while California's has doubled since 2010. Fast-food workers, following AB 1228 passed in fall 2023, see a separate minimum of $20 as of April 1. However, restaurant traffic has declined nearly 6%, outpacing the national average, after the wage hike.

💲 In Texas, U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan struck down the Department of Labor's final overtime pay rule, which would have raised the threshold incrementally to $58,656 by 2025. The rule, which went into effect on July 1, raised the yearly threshold to $44,000, impacting nearly 4 million salaried U.S. workers. However, this will now revert to the pre-pandemic level of $35,568. The Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association's lawsuit led to this ruling, which the hospitality industry largely supports.

💰 The UK Government is introducing legislation to reform business rates, beginning its delivery as promised in the Labour manifesto. Funded by a tax increase on the top one percent of high-value properties, the bill aims to permanently cut rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026. Last month, business rates support was extended for a year, but reduced from 75% to 40%, capped at £110,000. This will lead to an average 140% increase in rates for over 250,000 premises; restaurants' bills will rise from £5,051 to £12,122, and pubs from £3,938 to £9,451.