USAE
THE WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER OF ASSOCIATIONS, CVBs AND HOTELS VOLUME 43, ISSUE 15
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Healthcare Associations Sue Government Over Deleted Health Data & Websites By Todd McElwee
Ray Bloom, Chairman, IMEX Group; Carina Bauer, CEO, IMEX Group; and their staff welcome attendees of IMEX Frankfurt to Messe Frankfurt. The show ran from May 20–22. Photo by IMEX Group
AHLA Asks LA Mayor to Veto Wage Hikes for Tourism Workers
By Jordan Bradley
The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) has written a formal letter on May 20 to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advocating for the veto of a proposed tourism wage ordinance that would increase hospitality workers’ wages to $30 per hour by 2028. In the proposed ordinance, hotel
workers would see a 48% hike in minimum wage rates over three years and airport employees would see a 56% increase. In addition, the ordinance would require hotels and airport businesses to contribute $8.35 per hour to employee healthcare by July 2026. The proposal passed the Los Angeles City Council on May 14 by a 12-3 vote.
IMEX Frankfurt Enjoys Record Showing By Todd McElwee The 2025 edition of IMEX Frankfurt was the largest yet. Closing on May 22 at Messe Frankfurt, the 21st installment welcomed more than 13,000 global attendees, including 4,000-plus meetings and events buyers. The show floor featured nearly 3,000 exhibiting companies. North of 67,000 prescheduled meetings occurred—a 10% increase compared to 2024. “Meeting people in person is priceless,” said
Heledd Williams, Head of Business Events at Meet In Wales. “Nothing can replace it. Being here makes you feel things, it sparks unique ideas, you feel part of a community. We collaborate and share our challenges. In that way, our industry is very unique.” IMEX Frankfurt encompassed more than 200 educational sessions within the Inspiration Hub and across the show. Organizers said they were designed to supercharge business meetings and networking. Learning was spread Please turn to page 6
The AHLA argues that the ordinance could further devastate Los Angeles’ already struggling tourism economy, which is grappling with the aftermath of “devastating wildfires, a prolonged international travel slowdown, and a lagging pandemic recovery,” the letter reads. The association—alongside the city’s Chief Administrative Officer
Inside
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Nine co-plaintiffs, including multiple healthcare associations, sued Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the federal government on May 20 to stop the deletion of public health and science data. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Co-plaintiffs say that since January, the executive branch has deleted dozens, if not more, websites that physicians, nurses, healthcare providers, scientists and public health professionals rely upon, removing data on a wide range of medical topics. The suit would require the administration to restore deleted websites and stop any further removal of public health data. “The unannounced and unprecedented deletion of these federal webpages and datasets came as a shock to the medical and scientific communities, which had come to rely
AAF Sues Orlando Hotel Over Canceling 2023 Cultural Event By Jordan Bradley
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Page 4 MPI Offering Foursome of Learning Journeys During WEC St. Louis Page 5 ASAE Announces Nominees for Association and Foundation Boards Page 6 Historic Hotels of America Celebrates Preservation Month Page 7 ASAE Names 2025–2027 Class of DELP Scholars
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The Arab America Foundation (AAF) filed a lawsuit alleging unlawful discrimination and breach of contract on May 19 against the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando and Hilton Hotels in federal court for canceling its annual summit scheduled to be held at the hotel in November 2023. According to the filing, the AAF and the hotel’s owner, AWH Orlando Property, entered into a “Group Event Contract” on July 14, 2023,
to host the 2023 Annual AAF Summit, also called the Connect Arab America: Empowerment Summit, from November 3–5, 2023. The suit noted that Hilton also canceled the 2023 National Conference planned by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights that had been scheduled for October 27–29, 2023, at the Hilton Post Oak Houston in Texas “due to purported ‘escalating security concerns.’” It’s unclear why both of these events had been scheduled to be held within Please turn to page 5