Hotel Prices Dropping Nationwide

It is April 2009 and Hotwire.com’s monthly Hotwire® Hotel Rate Report shows us that Tampa leads major U.S. cities in hotel priced reductions and that New York City hotels studied in the report had prices drop 29 percent. The complete list follows.

Market & Rank	Price Drop	Type	Example of a current Hotwire price per night
1. Tampa	-31%	Four Star	$88
2. San Antonio	-30%	Three Star	$82
3. Vancouver, BC	-30%	Four Star	$91
4. New York City	-29%	Three Star	$139
5. Portland	-23%	Four Star	$96
6. Orlando	-22%	Four Star	$87
7. Chicago	-21%	Three Star	$65
8. Toronto	-20%	Four Star	$72
9. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale	-20%	Three Star	$76
10. Las Vegas	-19%	Four Star	$93

Source: Hotwire.com. Results are calculated by looking at Hotwire stay dates for select regions in the current month, and comparing prices in the current month against Hotwire prices in the same month in the prior year.

Nevada Still Waiting for Tourism Director

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has indicated that he will appoint a new state tourism director from among three finalists for a position, despite the fact that the state is cutting back its tourism budget and that Gibbons is calling for combining the operations of the Nevada Commission on Tourism with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.

The finalists recommended to the governor for the position by the tourism commission—there were more than 70 applicants for the post, a number that was whittled down to six finalists who were interview last month—include: Pasquale Barone, who has been managing director of global sales for Eos Airlines in Purchase, N.Y.; Donn Lewis, once served for 12 years as state tourism director for Maine; and Tom Jensen, a realtor affiliated with Windermere Real Estate on South Whidbey Island in Washington State.

Late last year, Gibbons tried to name Kirk Montero, station manager for US Airways at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, to the post, but the commission said Montero applied after a deadline had expired. It has been six months since the last director, Tim Maland, resigned from the position.

New State Tourism Director Named for Hawaii

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) has selected Mike McCartney to be its new president and CEO. The HTA board voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of McCartney from an HTA search committee “pending final contract negotiations.” McCartney, executive director of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, comes five months after the resignation of HTA’s former president and CEO, Rex Johnson, who resigned his post after allegations became public that he had used his state-provided laptop computer to receive and forward e-mails that were considered racist and sexist.

Well-known in Hawaii, McCartney has also served as the state’s director of human resources, as CEO for PBS Hawaii, and as cofounder of the local television show “Hawaii Stars.” McCartney replaces Lloyd Unebasami, HTA’s chief administrative officer, who has been serving as interim president and CEO since Johnsons’s resignation last October.

West Virginia Seeking to Establish Accreditation for its CVBs

Official state accreditation of convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) is called for in legislation recently introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates. House Bill 2438 wouldsubmit an application for accreditation—it will be
for a three-year period—by Dec. 31, 2009. A state accrediting board must notify the CVB of its decision by May 31, 2010.

The legislation would prohibit any unaccredited organization to receive funds from the local hotel/motel tax. Currently before the House’s Finance Committee, the bill further defines how public tax dollars may be spent promoting tourism and other activities. The principal provisions of House Bill 2438 include the following:

A West Virginia Convention and Visitors Bureau Accreditation Board is established…

• Fifty percent of the hotel/motel tax collected from overnight stays must be allocated to the local CVB. In the event there are two or more such agencies operating within a county, the county commission can fund each at its own discretion.

Canadian Court Upholds Obese Passengers Right to Earn Free Extra Seat

Canada’s Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal filed by Air Canada and WestJet, arguing the airlines shouldn’t be forced to give disabled and morbidly obese passengers an extra seat for free.

The court’s decision not to intervene in a November 2008 ruling effectively ends six years of litigation over a “one-person, one fare” pricing strategy, saying in essence that airlines should charge per person onboard their planes, and not per seat. Both Air Canada and WestJet tried to argue that policy would cause undue financial hardship in difficult economic times.

The requirement to grant a free extra seat to obese fliers is likely to be more controversial than the provision of a free seat to a disable passenger. One issue unresolved is the definition of obesity. Canadian law gives that authority to the airlines — and says free seats need not be granted to obese passengers who are merely uncomfortable in smallish airline seats, only to those passengers whose obesity is a disability itself. One possible criteria discussed is the passenger’s ability to lower the seat armrest; if they can’t do it due to their size, that passenger would be given a free seat. The airlines say the requirement will increase their costs, as well as passenger ticket fares.