Regulatory and Legal Affairs

🍻 Eluned Morgan, Wales’s Health Secretary, proposes banning free sugary drink refills in hospitality businesses to encourage healthier living. Over 60% of Wales' population is obese or overweight. Other plans include ending promotions like buy-one-get-one-free on unhealthy foods. Consultation responses are due by September 23, 2024. Draft regulations may be laid before the Senedd in 2024, with a 12-month transition period, aiming for enforcement by end of 2025. Non-complying businesses could face £2,500 fines.

🚨 The Human Trafficking Awareness Training Recognition Act, introduced in Washington by Reps. Valadao and Carter, mandates DHS to certify businesses training employees to combat human trafficking. Since 2019, the No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) initiative enabled 1.6 million training sessions. AHLA Foundation's Survivor Fund, created in 2022, raised $3.7 million, with a match up to $5 million, aiming for a $10 million total.

🚿 Starting January 1, 2025, New York State mandates hotels with over 50 rooms to stop providing small plastic toiletry bottles under 12 ounces; smaller hotels have until 2026. Initial violations incur a $250 fine, with subsequent breaches at $500, benefiting the state’s Environmental Protection Fund. The bill, introduced in 2019, was signed into law in 2021 by Governor Kathy Hochul but delayed implementation. New York follows California's 2019 law, with Washington and Illinois considering similar legislation. Marriott reported 95% compliance with switching to larger toiletry bottles in 2023, while Holiday Inn planned to ditch mini toiletries by 2021 and Disney aimed for an 80% plastic reduction.

🥥 The Coconut Tree, claiming to be the 'largest Sri Lankan restaurant group outside Sri Lanka', underwent a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) process overseen by Forvis Mazars, approved on 13 June, after facing financial challenges, including closing its Cardiff location in March. Founded in 2016, it operates eight UK restaurants. In January 2023, it sought a £1m equity-based crowdfund for expansion, targeting the London market, boasting a £10m pre-money valuation.

🌏 HBX Group released its Sustainability Report, revealing over 75 ESG-related actions and a new work and result reporting framework. The group joined the UN Global Compact and began a three-year plan to align with the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), analyzing the impact of 4,000+ KPIs. Its Sustainable Hotels Programme includes 40,000 certified properties, with a 900% increase in hotels adopting no-single-use plastics policies. HBX Group's employee volunteer hours increased by 40%, and their reforestation efforts resulted in 12,000+ trees planted. They've been Carbon Neutral certified for six years by Carbon Footprint LTD.

💸 One Fair Wage's initiative to raise Ohio's minimum wage to $15 and eliminate the tip credit failed to secure enough signatures for the November ballot. The constitutional amendment proposed a minimum wage increase to $12.75 by January 1, 2025, and $15 by January 1, 2026. Tip credit, which allows payment below the minimum wage to tipped workers, is a divisive issue. As of 2024, seven states and cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C., have abolished it. A survey revealed 91% of tipped workers in Ohio are satisfied with the current system.

🏦 Sir Keir Starmer becomes UK’s new Prime Minister on 5 July after Labour's victory, securing over 400 seats against the Conservatives' 120 in the general election. Labour commits to replacing England's business rates system and to reform the Apprenticeship Levy. UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls urges swift action on these commitments to aid the sector's growth. Industry voices like Sacha Lord and CAMRA's Nik Antona express optimism and call for government support, including fairer tax and protection for pubs.

🌎 Amadeus launches the Travel Impact Suite with Travalyst carbon emissions methodology integration, aiming to make travel more sustainable by informing, mitigating, and compensating environmental impacts. The suite includes Travel Impact Data Hub and Travel Impact Explorer, aggregating emissions data for flights, hotels, rail, and car travel. Partnerships with ACRISS, ICAO, Greentripper, Greenview, and Travalyst support the initiative. Olivier Girault emphasizes Amadeus's commitment to sustainable solutions. The upcoming Travel Impact Booster will enable support for carbon projects through CHOOOSE and other partners.

📌 Barcelona's City Council announced a short-term rentals ban by 2029, affecting 10,000 units. However, Mabrian's data reveals the market size is 63% larger than official estimates, with over 15,800 units, nearly 56,700 rental beds, equating to 67.6% of Barcelona's hotel capacity (84,000 beds by end of 2023). Approximately 25% of rental units operate without mandatory licenses. Of Airbnb-listed properties, 27% owners advertise one unit, 73% list multiples, and 57% of these offer over 10 accommodations. Nearly 61% of listings are entire homes, 33% private rooms, 4% one-room apartments, with 68% concentrated in Eixample, Ciutat Vella, and Sants-Montjuic. The ban aims to ease tourist lodging pressure in dense areas and return homes to locals. Key markets for short-term rentals include Americans, French, Australians, and British. Average nightly cost for a holiday rental is 56 euros compared to 167 euros in 3-star and 175 euros in 4-star hotels (June 2024 data).