The American Hotel & Lodging Association on Wednesday applauded
Congress' passage of the GOP tax bill.
The House approved the estimated $1.5 trillion tax cut on
Wednesday by a 224-201 vote. Earlier Wednesday, the Senate passed the bill by a
51-48 margin. The bill is believed to be the largest tax-bill overhaul since
1986.
"Tax reform will enable hoteliers to expand their
businesses, create more jobs and help keep our economy strong," AH&LA
CEO Katherine Lugar said in a statement. "We applaud the White House,
Congressional leadership and members of the House and Senate who voted for
final passage of this historic bill, and we look forward to final legislation
being signed into law."
The AH&LA last month estimated that the proposed tax cut
could generate as much as $57 billion in additional spending at hotels,
restaurants and stores in the next five years. Factor in the additional wages
and salaries needed to meet that increased demand, along with higher local and
state tax revenue, and that economic impact number may reach $131.7 billion in
additional economic activity within the next decade, according to the AH&LA.
The AH&LA's statement appears to echo the sentiment of
the CEOs at Marriott International and Hilton, the two largest U.S. hotel
companies, who discussed the possibility of tax reform during their company's
most recent earnings calls.
Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta, speaking on his earnings
call in late October, said he believed the proposed bill would help the
industry by encouraging larger companies to repatriate money that's been
invested overseas and free more cash for hirings and business investments.
"The whole point
of this is to stimulate economic growth and get more hands, more cash in the
hands of businesses to make more investments and hire more people, and I think
we would be a net beneficiary of it," Nassetta said.
Marriott CEO Arne
Sorenson said on his company's earnings call in early November that tax reform "gets
the dollars back into the American economy, and the American economy should
benefit from that."