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PProtect Your Customers: Information that Should – and Should Not – be included on Electronically Printed Receipts

A new mandate governing the amount and type of cardholder information that can appear on electronically printed credit and debit merchant card receipts is taking effect on October 1. The attached educational article written by Heartland Payment Systems provides important information you should know to protect yourself, your business – and your customers.

If you have any questions, please contact Heartland Payment Systems at 866.941.1HPS (866.941.1477).

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Hotel-tax figure in Pa. county not an issue, official says

Tax figures that suggested a downturn in hotel revenues in Pennsylvania's Luzerne County were skewed by the fact that the sale of a hotel resulted in the payment of about $200,000 in back hotel taxes for the 2006-07 fiscal year, a county visitor and convention bureau official said. County hotels have meanwhile seen occupancy increase by about 10% over the past three years, another official said. Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) (8/27)

Survey finds most Americans not Planning "Staycations"

A survey conducted by Ypartnership and the Travel Industry Association found that 9% of Americans are planning a home-based vacation rather than a traditional trip. Although "staycations" may be a real trend, "their potential negative impact on the domestic travel industry will be far less than expected based on the extensive coverage this phenomenon has received in the press," said Peter Yesawich, Ypartnership chairman. American City Business Journals/Orlando, Fla. (8/13)

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Hotels want a piece of taxes

(by Ryan Levinsohn - August 13, 2008)

In 2004 Rutherford, East Rutherford, Carlstadt, and Lyndhurst started collecting a 3-percent occupancy tax on hotel and motel rooms. The 2003 legislation that allowed the towns to do so had no provisions on how to spend the money. Travel industry experts, however, believe that the money collected should go back into promoting tourism for the towns.

Joe Simonetta, president of the Travel Industry Association and the New Jersey Hotel and Lodging Association, said that municipalities statewide aren’t using the tax collected for promotion.

"A lot of the municipalities are using it for general purpose," Simonetta said. "It’s just revenue to them."

Simonetta believes that since the tax is collected from tourism, it should go back into tourism.

"They should be plowing it into what will help the town become a destination," Simonetta said, adding that if guests have to pay more on their bill but aren’t courted to stay in the town, they will find other arrangements.

"If they’re just going to make the hotels more expensive, the patrons are going to go elsewhere," Simonetta said.

In the 2007 fiscal year, Rutherford received $278,755, Carlstadt received $238,468, Lyndhurst received $330,830 and East Rutherford, with five hotels, received the most at $604,887.

Tom Bell with the Department of Treasury said that the legislation did not stipulate where the tax had to go and that currently no legislation is in the works to change that.

"This was enacted to supplement state aid," Bell said. "It’s for discretionary use."

Robert Weeks, the general manager of the 427-room Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel and Conference Center in East Rutherford, believes that some of the municipal occupancy tax should go back to promote tourism.

"I think that some of the money instead of going to the local towns should go to some of the organizations that promote tourism in the area so it ends up getting more tax revenue for everybody," Weeks said. "The Meadowlands being an interesting destination, it certainly needs promotion."

Joseph Crifasi, council president of Carlstadt, agrees that promotion is needed but contends that every dollar collected from the occupancy tax is well spent in servicing the three hotels in town.

"The revenue itself goes to the general fund, but indirectly it goes to the services around the hotel," Crifasi said.

Crifasi said that with hotels come many false fire alarms, police calls and ambulance calls, which drains the borough.

"Dollar for dollar they are definitely getting their money’s worth," Crifasi said.

He is open to the idea, however, of starting a hotel-community committee to help in finding affordable ways to promote the businesses.

Rutherford Mayor John Hipp echoed that sentiment. "It enables us to provide services that they benefit from without draining the taxpayers of Rutherford," Hipp said.

Hipp, who is still waiting for a portion of the ‘07 occupancy tax which is distributed by the state, does not believe it is the borough’s responsibility to go back and promote the hotels or other attractions. "I don’t want to put one dime into marketing the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority," Hipp said.

East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella also believes that the money should be spent at the borough’s discretion. "Tourism is done by the state, and used to promote the state as a whole," Cassella said.

Cassella also said that with Xanadu coming, the borough would not be able to enhance promotion anymore than what Xanadu will spend on getting tourists to the area.

Along with the municipality hotel occupancy tax, a statewide occupancy tax was enacted which now stands at 5 percent. This tax is in addition to the state’s 7-percent sales tax. According to Bell, the state will take in $90 million in the upcoming year. Eleven percent of that will go towards promotion and advertising while the largest chunk, 63 percent, will go towards the state’s general fund.

All of these taxes have area hotels unhappy and struggling.

"First we were hit with 9/11 and then we were hit with these taxes in 2004," Denise Murray, owner of the Lyndhurst Quality Inn said. "The affordability of coming to New Jersey was the allure. We lost our allure."

Murray said that any advertising she sees by the state is for the shore and that the area is left to promote itself.

"I’m not saying every dime should be put into tourism but you need to advertise and promote," Simonetta said.

Although Simonetta would love to see legislation to mandate some of the revenue go to promotion, he acknowledged that it was not feasible in today’s economic climate.

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Travel Promotion Act Passes House Committee
AH&LA-Supported Travel Promotion Legislation Moves to
Full U.S. House of Representatives for Vote

Washington, D.C, September 24, 2008 – Recognizing the importance of tourism to the American economy, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Travel Promotion Act (H.R. 3232), a bill that promises to add tens of thousands of new industry jobs and billions of dollars in economic stimulation for the United States. 

“Passing the Travel Promotion Act is one of the top legislative priorities of AH&LA this session,” said Joe McInerney, AH&LA president and CEO.  “This bill has the potential to deliver a large number of new visitors to U.S. hotels and create thousands of new jobs in our industry.  In today’s tough economic environment, every step Congress can take to support U.S. businesses is welcome news.”

Spending in the United States is down almost $12 billion by international travelers, according to 2006 Dept. of Commerce statistics. 

Strongly supported by the American lodging and tourism industry, the full Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill September 23 on a voice vote in the last markup of the regular 110th Congress session.  The bill was passed earlier this month in the committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. 

The next step for this legislation is for a full House vote.  AH&LA and its allies are working with Congressional leadership offices to find a place for it on the House’s suspension calendar.  For a bill to pass on this calendar, it will need a two-thirds vote to move on to a Senate vote.  Most legislation introduced in the House never makes it to a committee vote, much less to the full House, so this is a significant achievement in a very tough legislative year.

AH&LA has been actively promoting this bill since it was introduced earlier in the current Congressional session.   This legislation would establish the Corporation for Travel Promotion as a nonprofit corporation promoting the United States as a valuable travel destination and counter and correct misperceptions regarding U.S. travel policy.  

“This bill would not be on a fast track to a vote in the House of Representatives if it was not for the leadership and support of subcommittee chairman Rep. Bobby Rush,” said Marlene Colucci, AH&LA executive vice president for policy.  “The Travel Promotion Act would allow more international visitors to enjoy American hospitality, and help more American businesses reap the benefits and stimulate their local economies.”

Rep. Rush was not the only Congressional champion of this important legislation.  Committee Chairman Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), ranking member Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), and Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Edward Whitfield (R-KY), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Mike Ross (D-AR), House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), and all the other members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee receive the American lodging industry’s appreciation and thanks for their recognition of this legislation’s importance in helping strengthen the U.S. economy.

This issue was heavily lobbied for by more than 200 hospitality executives at the AH&LA Legislative Action Summit last spring when they visited Congressional offices.  It was also at the top of the agenda when 15 CEOs of the nation’s leading hotel companies visited Capitol Hill last week to urge Congressional leadership to move this bill up for a vote. 

For more information about AH&LA’s work on the Travel Promotion Act, go to AH&LA’s “Travel and Tourism Promotion” Webpage.

  
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Report: Hotel profits up as international travel to U.S. booms

Hotel industry pre-tax profits were up from $26.6 billion in 2006 to $28 billion in 2007, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association's Lodging Industry Profile, released this week. Year-over-year sales for the industry were up 4.5% to $139.4 billion as the U.S. saw a record of 56 million international travelers. BTNonline.com (9/23)

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