WASHINGTON—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has launched Dreams Happen Here, a national campaign focused on the economic benefits the hotel industry brings to every community across the country. As part of the campaign, AHLA is launching a week of hospitality-focused activities here, to showcase the strength of the industry and the jobs that lead to long-term career and economic opportunities to Capitol Hill and the new administration.
Conducted by Oxford Economics, a new, comprehensive study reveals the hotel industry supports eight million jobs across the country and contributes nearly $600 billion annually to the U.S. GDP. Some of the key findings from the Oxford Economics research include more than one billion guests stay in hotels every year; hotels support $1.1 trillion in U.S. sales, including hotel revenue, guest spending and taxes; hotels generate $170 billion in local, state and federal taxes; and guests spend nearly $500 billion at hotels and local businesses.
“Hotels play an important role in each congressional district around the country, from the jobs lodging businesses support, to the billions of dollars our members contribute to taxes and the U.S. GDP annually,” said AHLA President and CEO Katherine Lugar. “Our Dreams Happen Here campaign underscores the strength and unity of our industry and more importantly the commitment and investment in the most important part of our industry: our people.”
“The American Dream is thriving in the hotel sector,” said Lugar. “Our industry offers unrivaled upward mobility for its employees. At each hotel across the country, there are countless stories of individuals who start in entry-level jobs and quickly move up the ranks to run some of the largest hotel companies in the world.”
In addition to releasing new data, AHLA will promote several hospitality events around the city this week. On Wednesday, AHLA will host a food truck on Capitol Hill, which will serve complimentary coffee and cookies to congressional staff. Member company CEOs will also meet this week with U.S. senators and representatives from both parties. The campaign was previewed last summer during both the Republican and Democratic conventions.