In a 5-4 decision, a divided Supreme Court largely upheld the constitutionality of the Obama administration's health-care law in one of the most anticipated high-court rulings in a generation, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The court upheld the mandate as a tax, in an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts. The justices also found fault with part of the health-care law's expansion of Medicaid, a joint federal-state insurance program for the poor. The justices made some changes to the Medicaid portion of the law.
The court said Congress was acting within its powers under the Constitution when it required most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty—the provision at the center of the two-year legal battle.
Iberia and NH Hoteles signed a framework agreement Thursday under which they commit to working to develop initiatives to enhance the products and services offered to both companies’ customers.
A substantial portion of the agreement is focused on the design of joint initiatives, underpinned by the exchange of products and services between Iberia and NH Hoteles, so their national and international customers can benefit from the synergies implicit in both companies’ offers. Promotional activities designed to reward both companies’ regular customers’ loyalty will be of special importance.
The U.S. Travel Association on Wednesday emailed the following statement regarding U.S. per diem rates: "Following the General Services Administration (GSA) conference scandal, the federal government is continuing to pursue policies that could reduce federal travel budgets, alter private sector spending and harm the travel industry. U.S. Travel recently learned that GSA is considering several revisions to its methodology for calculating its annual lodging per diem rate. One proposal under serious consideration would reduce per diem rates in major travel markets by upwards of 30 percent. This could have significant and long-lasting economic impacts on government and private sector business travel, and harm the nation's tentative economic recovery.
"U.S. Travel is deeply engaged and partnering with our colleagues at the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) to address this matter. By mobilizing 50,000 targeted grassroots leaders and an array of advocacy resources, we are working with leaders on Capitol Hill and within the Administration to stop any policies that could negatively impact travel."
For all their intelligence and savvy, when revenue managers discuss key strategies and data to various stakeholders within a hotel, those items often get lost in translation.
It’s not enough to crunch the numbers; the best revenue managers also have to be able to communicate them, according to experts during the “Translate Math to English” panel at HSMAI’s Revenue Optimization Conference.
Failure to do so will not only result in less-than-informed decision-making, but also it puts the position of revenue management in the back seat, said Heather Scharmer, manager of revenue management education for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. If stakeholders can’t understand revenue managers, then revenue managers effectively lose their voice.
The challenge, added Kurien Jacob, senior VP of revenue and distribution for Highgate Hotels, is tailoring the message for difference audiences.
There are flashy new devices displayed at HITEC, but some of them can be impractical for a hotel room. But what truly stood out this year is how hotel technology suppliers are embracing mobility, blogs HotelNewsNow.com editor Jason Q. Freed.
“I can say with all honesty that HITEC offers a really fun tradeshow,” he writes. “If you talk to the right people and position the questions correctly, you really can get a sense for what next big technologies will impact the hotel industry.”
So what was the one big technology that stood out at HITEC 2012? Freed said that’s “a question that’s really hard to answer because there never is just one flashy, effective, time-saving, badass product.”
Though, one product that would shell shock the hotel technology space if it went away is the iPad. Freed said that it’s all about mobility for the future of hotels, and the iPad brings many opportunities to the guestroom that are long overdue.
Compiled by Stephanie Wharton.
