Changes

[[File:AHLA_logo_375x208.png|200px|thumb|right]]The '''American Hotel & Lodging Association''' (AHLA) is a U.S.-based trade group that represents the lodging industry, which includes chain and independent hotels, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and companies that manage and supply the lodging industry. AHLA is based in Washington, D.C. and is connected with a network of state-level associations across the U.S.<ref name="about">AHLA, "[http://ahla.com/content.aspx?id=3438 About Us], organizational website, accessed December 30, 2014.</ref> AHLA has become a powerful force lobbying against higher wages and greater health care coverage for its workers, and in 2014 filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles law to raise the wage for hotel workers to $15.37.<ref name="la lawsuit">David Zahniser and Emily Alpert Reyes, "[http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hotel-wage-lawsuit-20141215-story.html Industry groups sue over L.A.'s minimum wage for hotel workers]," ''L.A. Times'', December 16, 2014. Accessed March 12, 2015.</ref><ref name="extreme wages">Mary Bottari and Jonas Persson, "[http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/01/12708/hotel-lobby-sues-la-coordinated-campaign-against-family-supporting-jobs-and- Hotel Lobby Sues Los Angeles to Block “Extreme” Wages]," Center for Media and Democracy, ''PR Watch'', January 12, 2015. Accessed March 12, 2015.</ref> AHLA's board includes members from major hotel and resort companies, including Omni, IHG, [[Wyndham International]], [[Marriott]], [[Hilton]], [[Hyatt]], Carlson, and others. AHLA's organization developed and rolled out a new brand strategy from 2012-2014, including a new "operating model" that foregrounds AHLA's "advocacy" efforts in lawmaking.<ref name="about"/> Its stated mission is "[t]o serve the lodging industry by providing representation at the national level in governmental affairs, education, research, communications, diversity, and value-added services."<ref name="2013 strategic plan">AHLA, "[https://www.ahla.com/uploadedFiles/2013%20strategic%20plan.pdf 2013 Strategic Plan]," organizational publication, accessed December 30, 2014.</ref>