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Mall of America ready to pursue $1.5 billion expansion plans
DestinationsA $250 million tax break passed in the closing minutes of the legislative session is expected to resurrect expansion plans at the Mall of America. The owners of the Bloomington megamall, Triple Five Group, said the $1.5 billion project would double the size of the mall, add hotels, a waterpark, performing arts center, officer towers [...]
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European Union optimistic about global pact on aviation carbon emissions
TransportSenior officials from business and commercial aviation voiced cautious optimism that a long-sought worldwide framework to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions could be in place by 2020. And a key negotiator for the European Union’s Executive Commission, focus of anger from many other countries over its emissions trading scheme (ETS), said she hoped a road map [...]
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Caribbean island’s tourism bleeds after Virgin Atlantic cuts capacity
TransportThere is a very fine line when writing a column like this. The risk of being branded as a pessimist is high. I only hope that readers will focus on the message that I am trying to convey and perhaps apply some of the content objectively to look at issues in a broader, more holistic [...]
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The online travel agencies’ hotel tax mess: Every state, every case
DigitalThe City of Los Angeles sued online travel agencies such as Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity and Orbitz in 2004, and over the intervening nine years, lawyers have built careers on the litigation. Oh, some cases have been resolved, with OTAs winning the majority, but losing some big ones. Looking at Priceline as a case in point, [...]
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New airline ticket taxes: Who will pay, travelers or taxpayers?
TransportA $300 domestic airline ticket now includes about $60 in taxes — or 20 percent of the total fare — which pays for things like air traffic controllers, airport improvements, customs and immigration inspections and checkpoint screening. President Obama, in his 2014 budget request, has proposed increases in many of those taxes, a move that [...]
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Miami’s chances of hosting 2016 Super Bowl drop with stadium upgrade rejected
DestinationsA proposal by the Miami Dolphins to use taxpayer money to help finance an upgrade of the NFL team’s stadium failed on Friday to win broad support among Florida state lawmakers, dealing a potential blow to Miami’s bid to host the 2016 Super Bowl. The Dolphins, owned by real estate tycoon Stephen Ross, lobbied the [...]
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South Carolina approves law protecting hotel guests from extra taxes
DestinationsTravelers in South Carolina wouldn’t pay additional taxes for spa treatments and other conveniences that can be added to hotel bills under a bill approved by the House. The measure approved Tuesday would delete certain items from the additional 5 percent accommodations taxes on lodging. Another perfunctory vote on Wednesday would send it to the [...]
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Hawaii’s increased hotel tax of 9.25 percent will be made permanent
DestinationsHawaiian lawmakers agreed this week to make permanent a temporary increase in the hotel room tax rate that was set to expire in 2015. The rate, known as the transient accommodations tax, was raised 1 percentage point in each of the past two years to the current rate of 9.25 percent, as lawmakers sought ways [...]
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California state judge rules online travel agencies not subject to hotel taxes
DigitalMajor online travel agencies, including Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity and Orbitz, notched a big win in an almost decade-long hotel tax fight in California. A state Superior Court judge, hearing claims from the cities of Los Angeles, Anaheim, Santa Monica, San Diego and San Francisco, issued a summary judgment, holding that the defendants are not hotel [...]
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Local governments in New York get class action status in hotel tax suit
DigitalA group of local governments in New York State has won class-action status in a lawsuit that accuses online travel booking companies of failing to pay millions of dollars in hotel taxes, one of dozens of cases in a legal battle playing out all across the country. Nassau County filed the lawsuit in 2011 on [...]
