Welcome to Hospitality Upgrade's exclusive Viewpoint series. We’re thrilled to speak to a very special guest, Rosanna Maietta, CEO of AHLA, an organization at the forefront of advocating for the hospitality industry. Thanks so much for being here, Rosanna.

What are AHLA's top legislative priorities for the hospitality industry this year and what can HFTP stakeholders do to advance those priorities?

ROSANNA: It's an interesting time right now with a lot of global uncertainty. At AHLA, our job is to be more proactive, more visible and to continue to drive results despite what's happening in the world. We are actively building champions in the House and Senate to make sure more people understand that thriving hotels do well for their communities, and communities doing well means the rest of the state and country’s economy are doing better.

Our focus is on driving profitability for our owners and highlighting the need for greater demand. When more people are traveling, it's good for business and for all of us. We're seeing operators dealing with rising operating costs. We're trying to strengthen the workforce, easing international travel, especially ahead of the World Cup. Here in Washington, we’re looking to pass the American Franchise Act, which is so important to our industry. We have a lot of global players, and we want to make sure we have a presence here at home and abroad.

For members of our global audience, what should people know about the U.S. hotel industry?

Many of the challenges we’re facing here are playing out in their communities, too, from technology and distribution regulations to AI’s impact on the guest experience.

We're also looking at the workforce and how do we solve for a retiring, older workforce. Where do we find new people who want to invest in this industry for their careers? These are similar issues to what's happening abroad.

As we look to the World Cup, our hotels are working with officials to ensure safety and security precautions are in place, but also ease of travel and making sure global travelers know what to expect, how to apply for a visa and what those wait times look like.

Let's move into something that's on everyone's mind. How is AHLA advocating for legislation relating to artificial intelligence?

That’s the debate around the country, around Congress and here in Washington. States feel like Congress isn't moving swiftly enough. One of the things we're most concerned about is ensuring we don't have a patchwork of AI legislation. How complicated would that be for our industry? We’re watching what's coming out of Washington and having those conversations behind the scenes.

Our HTNG technology arm has been laser focused on this. We have several working groups really thinking about the use challenges of AI, and our committees are discussing it. It is integral in everything we're doing at AHLA. We're thinking about how our hotels are using AI around guest experience, but also on the ops side and whether that can increase efficiency, scheduling power and profitability.

Let's talk about another concern for the industry. What legislative measures is AHLA championing to address workforce challenges in the hospitality industry?

It's such a big problem and something we've been dealing with for a long time. You're seeing it in trends around how many people are applying to hospitality schools. And those that do, do they get into the industry or do they go into the real estate market?

In Washington, we’re thinking about workforce shortages and that immediate gap around high seasons. How can we modernize the H-2B legal guest worker program? I've had many conversations with senators and members of Congress about the need to look at this program again and modernize it, because there simply aren't enough visa applications, especially for an industry that's growing.

And our AHLA Foundation is where they really shine. They're focused on scholarship programs and distributed over a million dollars this year to 300 students. We just came off a very empowering week at Forward, where we had a thousand women in the room focused on skills and professional development to grow and advance women in our workforce. The foundation is laser focused on helping tap into that next generation and telling the story of the career pathways that exist.

Let's talk about the future. What is AHLA working on and what is on the horizon for HTNG?

We're so proud of the last five years. We’re coming up on the anniversary of HTNG becoming a part of AHLA. We've grown awareness of the HTNG brand in the states, but also globally. I'm so proud of the creation of T100, which brings leaders in this space together to really tackle hot topics like AI and what's next. A lot of that work was led by Dave Sjolander and Sandy, and unfortunately both are retiring this year. We're sad to see them go, but we've staffed up internally to make sure we have the resources we need in-house to work with this meaningful group of industry leaders around the globe.

We're also in the process of thinking about our strategic plan for the next five years at AHLA, and where technology fits into that is going to be a major pillar. As we think about growth, it's around thought leadership in this space, building and strengthening our events, working with HFTP and Hospitality Upgrade, finding ways to collaborate through advocacy and local, state and federal engagement.

How is AHLA working to influence legislation that promotes sustainability and environmental, social and governance practices in the hospitality industry?

We care about the communities we live in, and we're committed to all those areas. Sustainability is an important priority for a long time. We know guests care about it. A survey showed that 60% of travelers will stay in a hotel that has sustainability labels, so it's good for business. We've also partnered with the Hotel Association of Canada on Green Key Global, which is one unifying sustainability certification program. More than 2,500 properties here in the U.S. have started to adopt it, and we think that's what consumers will start to look for and demand.

And then there's a program we all care deeply about, our No Room for Trafficking initiative around human trafficking prevention. There have been more than 2.5 million employee trainings on how to spot and stop trafficking when it happens. That campaign under the AHLA Foundation continues to be meaningful. We now have a survivor fund, and we're supporting survivors as well.

Our industry really appreciates these initiatives and the benefit they bring across the board. AHLA is currently working on a three-year strategic plan. Can you give us a glimpse of any new strategies?

It's exciting to spend time with industry leaders looking into the future and deciding where we're going to go in the next three years. But the truth is we're building on the momentum of the last five years and our current strategic plan. I don't expect you'll see massive changes. We're still going to be focused on workforce, labor, distribution and technology. But we're really trying to think about where the industry and demand are going, how consumers are shifting and our role.

You're going to see AHLA focused on things that are unique to the hotel industry, that no other trade association can tackle. That's where we'll be focused. We're still in early stages and we expect to have this plan developed and delivered by the end of the year, so more to come.

Thank you so much for joining us and sharing these valuable insights. It's clear that AHLA is driving meaningful change in the hospitality industry.

Thank you and thanks for all that you do. We look forward to greater collaboration as well.