The Supreme Court agreed Monday to referee a dispute over police access to hotels’ guest information without first getting a search warrant, according to an AP story.
The justices said they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires hotel operators to open their guest registries at the demand of police.
The federal appeals court in San Francisco divided 7-4 in ruling that the ordinance violates the privacy rights of the hotels, but not their guests. Courts in other parts of the country have upheld similar laws. Los Angeles has said the ordinance makes prostitutes and drug dealers less likely to use hotels if they know that the facilities must collect information about guests and make them available to police on a moment's notice.
Judge Paul Watford wrote for the appeals court that the records are a hotel's private property, and “the hotel has the right to exclude others from prying into the contents of its records.”
Group business has started new shoots of growth, but sources have differing prognostications as to whether its global recovery also will bear fruit in Europe, according to a report from HNN’s Terence Baker.
Michelle Wharton, director of sales and marketing at the 200-room London Marriott Hotel County Hall, which recently renovated its more than 9,000 square feet of meeting space, said that for many sales staff seeking new group business the post-recession has resulted in a new wave of cooperation.
“Group sales have to look at overall spend into the hotel and justify each piece of business,” Wharton said, who added she has seen an uptick in business meetings and events, with the real forward trajectory starting with business booked for last July onward.
Shanghai-based Shimao Group announced a new hotel brand called MiniMax Hotel. The announcement follows the initiation of its proprietary hotel branding program and debut of the first hotel under the proprietary MiniMax brand, according to a company news release.
The mid-tier MiniMax Hotel brand focuses on latest trends, targeting young adults who “seek an unconventional travel experience,” according to the release. High-end MiniMax Premier Hotel targets “the segment seeking a high-quality hotel experience that stretches beyond the boundaries of the expected.”
“One of our core values is innovation, and we focus on being forward thinking in our exploration for new ideas across the hospitality ecosystem. MiniMax Hotel has identified the precise demographic that it seeks to target, and focuses on experiential services that not only meet the expectations of that demographic but also serve to create new ones,” said Robin Shen, VP of Shimao group and GM of Shimao Hotels and Resorts.
The first MiniMax Hotel, MiniMax Hotel Shanghai Songjiang, will open in December 2014.
Booking data from Expedia shows that 21 million Americans are expected to fly from October through December, according to a news release. U.S. domestic seat capacity is expected to be up more than 3 million seats during the busiest travel season of the year.
Of the top 10 destinations for air travel, 50% are warm-weather destinations and 30% are cold-weather, according to the release. The most highly-shopped hotel destinations during the 2014 holiday season can be found in warm-weather destinations, including:
- Orlando, Florida;
- Cancun, Mexico;
- New York City;
- Riviera Maya, Mexico; and
- Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
A growing number of Caribbean countries are moving to prohibit incoming travel from Ebola-affected countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to a report in the Caribbean Journal.
“With immediate effect, all visitors from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea will be prohibited from entering the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis until further notice,” the government of St. Kitts said in a statement. “Prohibition will also be applied to travelers who have visited those countries within the past 21 days.”
St. Lucia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana also announced similar bans.
Compiled by Alicia Hoisington.