Duff on Hospitality Law

As evidenced by our list of stories, it was a relatively quiet week in online travel.  The Texas Attorney General’s Office and its pursuit of hotel companies over their resort fee practices garnered most of the industry’s headlines (exactly as the Texas AG wanted). Some highlights from this week:

• • Following Its Settlement with Marriott, Texas AG Targets Hyatt.  With a settlement in hand with Marriott, the Texas Attorney General is now targeting other national hotel brands and operators with claims that their rate and resort fee practices violate Texas consumer protection laws.  In announcing the settlement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated, “Marriott is now taking proactive steps to promote price transparency.  In contrast, other major hotel  chains have defended their deceptive practices, and they will be facing the full force of the law for their actions.”  Apparently, Hyatt is next on the Texas AG’s list as the AG’s office filed suit on Monday against Hyatt. 
    
    
  • Fact or Fiction:  Instant Booking for Meetings and Events.  For some time now, we’ve been working with clients to move their sales and contracting practices for small meetings and events to online platforms (both proprietary and third party) with the promise that small meetings and events can be booked instantly.  But do these tools really work?  Is that what meeting planners and groups really want?  Or do the many nuances of a successful meeting or event (as compared to a rooms only leisure booking) make them too difficult to book entirely online?  This past week, Skift, offered its perspective on these instant booking platforms. 

For those of you attending the upcoming week of events in Toronto (HSMAI’s Commercial Strategy Week), I would enjoy connecting.  I’ll be presenting on Monday at the Executive Roundtables and facilitating that afternoon the discussion at the Chief Distribution Officer roundtable.  I hope to see you there!