According to Eyster and DeRoos (11), the American hospitality industry is one of its kind that has maintained a steady growth despite of the recent World economic recession. Some analysts attribute this steady growth to the friendly rules and regulations governing its operations.
However, a considerable number of other analysts claim that the growth in this industry could be better than it is currently if it were not restricted by the “retrogressive’ policies and requirements created by the American politicians (legislators).
In this paper, we are going to examine the political and legal activities that impact or are likely to influence the activities in the hospitality industry, especially the hotel and motel sectors.
To start a hotel or motel business in America, it is mandatory to comply with the incorporation rules and regulations. The first legal requirement is the acquisition of the certificate of registration and hotel keeper’s/ hotel owner’s license.
The certificate of registration gives the business entrepreneur the right to use the premises as a hotel, while hotel keeper’s license gives the hotel owner the powers to manage the hotel. Before the acquisition of these two fundamental certificates, the hotel entrepreneur must have acquired all other relevant certificates and complied with all other legal requirements for a normal business.
Incorporation of the business to the registrar as a partnership, sole proprietorship, or limited liability company is one of the prior requirements. Registration is done so that the business is to be allowed to trade in its own name. Another prior requirement is obtaining written approval from the American Urban Redevelopment Authority on the use of premises as a hotel or motel.
The government, through its machineries, also requires a Hotel Keeper, who is to manage the hotel or motel, to be appointed. In addition, it is necessary for the application for the certificate of registration to be advertised in the national newspaper fourteen days before the submission date.
Before acquiring the certificate of registration, the business is to get clearance from the national Environment agency (certificate of statutory completion, and approval from the Fire Safety department).
Finally, the owner of the hotel/motel seeks approval from the building construction authority, and if successful, a temporally “occupation permit” is issued and therefore, the business entity is ready to apply for the certificate of registration and operate as a hotel (Barth and Hayes 16).
Today, the American hotel and motel industry is affected with a long line of political policies and legal requirements. It is mandatory for all the hotel operators to comply with these rules and regulations. The first requirement is the public entertainment/ arts entertainment license which is issued under the Public Entertainments & Meetings Act.
This license is essential because a hotel or motel business cannot survive without organizing ad-hoc entertainment events. The business is barred by law to engage in the organization of these events without the public entertainment license.
The business also requires the copyright permit according to the American copyright Act if it intends to play copyrighted music. This requirement has affected both the entertainment industry and hotel and motel industry.
For the entertainment industry, it has helped cut down on music and video piracy, hence improving the incomes of the affected artists. It has, however, added operational costs to the hotel and motel industry because copyright permits are extremely expensive.
The American hotels are also required to comply with the government policy on environmental conservation. Therefore, all hotels must ensure that the smoke released to the environment from their chimneys is purified and also limited in volume.
The need for organizations to adopt green technology has made many hotels and motels in America invest more in advanced technology, which is a step towards the acquisition of green technology requirements. Adaptation of green technology, however, is proving to be hard to acquire by the majority of hotels and motels due to its high costs.
Another government policy that has a significant impact on the hotel and motel industry is the tax credit policy. Here, hotels which hire low income groups become eligible for an annual tax credit of $2400 for each qualifying employee who works for more than 400 hours during the year.
The policy also proposes a maximum credit of $1200 for a hotel to hire a young qualifying employee to work during the summer. Because of this work opportunity, tax credits, the hotel and motel industry players have focused more on hiring qualifying employees. By doing so, they have saved on payable tax, therefore, increasing their profit margins.
The government tax policy on organizations that provide suitable working conditions for disabled people has also affected the operations in the hotel and motel industry (Norman-Eady 7).
According to this policy, the hotel or any qualifying organization gets up to $15000 as an annual deduction for the costs of removing barriers that may negatively affect people with disability.
To qualify for this deduction, hotels must provide disabled accessible parking spaces, wheelchair-accessible telephones, increasing the width of walkways to at least 48 inches wide, and ensure that entrances are accessible as well. The effect of this policy has been positive because each firm in the hotel and motel industry is strategizing how to comply with these conditions improving, in turn, the working conditions of the disabled.
The labor unions are the other hotels and motel stakeholders whose actions have significantly affected the operations of the industry. The American labor union has set minimum salary payable to any of its members, thus eliminating chances of the hotels to save on expenses by paying its workers small salaries.
The labor unions have also explained their members their rights at the work place making them hard to press down. This has helped to get rid of old “dictator” management style and aided introduction of collaborative leadership style.
In collaborative leadership style, the employee is given opportunities to contribute to the matters that concern the organization which motivates them leading to better production.
In conclusion, political policies and legal requirements have played an enormous role in making the hotel and motel industry what it is today. It is expected that as the industry continues growing, more policies, rules and regulations will be enforced so as to ensure smooth co-existence of all the players in the industry.
STEP Analysis.
Works Cited
Barth, Stephen and David K. Hayes. Hospitality Law: Managing Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print.
Eyster, James J. and Jan A. DeRoos. The Negotiation and Administration of Hotel Management Contracts. 3rd edn. 2009. USA: Custom Publishing. Print.
Norman-Eady, Sandra. Innkeepers’ Rights Regarding Guests. 2000. Web.