The fight between hoteliers and online travel companies escalated in Washington this week, as some 225 members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association took to Capitol Hill to oppose a measure that would exempt resellers from occupancy taxes.
The hoteliers were in town for AH&LA’s annual legislative summit, spending a full day lobbying members of Congress.
“The big message we were able to broadcast was educating various lawmakers on our side of the OTC issue,” said Robert Baylor, a spokesman for AH&LA.
OTCs, which are seeking the exemption in response to a host of lawsuits filed against them by cities over back taxes, tried to get in front of the lobbying effort by issuing an open letter to the AH&LA on the eve of its summit.
“Successful resolution of this issue cannot take place at the local level. It will require a fair and equitable national standard, and we’d like to ask for your help to develop the best solution in that area,” the group said.
Signatories included the American Society of Travel Agents, Business Travel Coalition, Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association, Interactive Travel Services Association and U.S. Tour Operators Association.
Marlene Colucci, AH&LA's executive vice president for public policy, said the AH&LA would be willing to talk, but noted that “when we first became aware of their proposed legislation last spring, the online travel companies refused to meet with AH&LA despite repeated requests.”
At issue is the question of whether online travel agencies and other resellers owe taxes on markups of wholesale hotel rates.
The AH&LA claims the proposed exemption would expose hotels to liabilities for taxes that the OTAs would have already collected.