Hospitality Law


Hospitality Law


Hospitality Law covers a wide range of legal issues which include contracts, hotel liability, duty of hotels toward guests, employment laws, antitrust legislation, alcohol licensing and food safety to name a few. Industries such as transportation, hotels, bars, motels and other various leisure establishments and services must comply with all laws set forth by the various governing authorities of this area of practice.

Hospitality Law - US

  • ABA - Hospitality Law Overview

    Hospitality law has evolved as a specialty within the legal profession in the last several decades. It is also offered as a course on the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as in some law schools. A typical hospitality law course covers the history of hospitality law, the impact of federal and state civil rights laws on the hospitality industry, and an extensive discussion of contract law, including discussions of remedies for overbooking and a guest’s breach of the contract regarding a reservation.

  • Food Safety - Inspections and Compliance

    The food industry is responsible for producing safe food. Government agencies are responsible for setting food safety standards, conducting inspections, ensuring that standards are met, and maintaining a strong enforcement program to deal with those who do not comply with standards.

  • Hospitality Law - Definition

    Hospitality law is the body of law relating to the foodservice, travel, and lodging industries. That is, it is the body of law governing the specific nuances of hotels, restaurants, bars, spas, country clubs, meeting and convention planners, and more. Hospitality law doesn’t just involve one area of law. It encompasses a wide variety of practice areas, including contracts, antitrust, tort law, and more.

  • Hospitality Risk Solutions

    Business interruption insurance (also known as business income coverage) helps businesses in situations like this. Many businesses without the business income coverage, shut down their business operations after their business is completely shuttered due to some unforeseen event. It covers the loss of income and helps a business return to the financial position as it was in prior to the disaster.

  • Restaurants and Food Service Businesses

    Business.gov helps small business owners stay abreast of legal and regulatory issues affecting their daily lives. This guide provides an overview of federal regulations that affect restaurants and other food service businesses, including links to guidance that help restaurateurs stay in compliance with federal regulations.

  • United States Hotel Liability

    Hotel guests should be aware of certain laws and regulations or policies that could impact their visits. Special concerns affect the "hospitality industry" because its establishments hold their property open to the public at large. For hotels (collectively referred to as "innkeepers" under many state laws), duties owed to the public at large are based on the historic consideration that when weary travelers reached wayside inns as night approached, they were not to be arbitrarily turned away into the dark (the roads were filled with robbers) or otherwise subjected to the arbitrary mercy of the innkeeper with regard to prices or adequacy of quarters.

Organizations Related to Hospitality Law

  • American Hotel and Lodging Association

    Serving the hospitality industry for nearly a century, AH&LA is the sole national association representing all sectors and stakeholders in the lodging industry, including individual hotel property members, hotel companies, student and faculty members, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides members with national advocacy on Capitol Hill, public relations and image management, education, research and information, and other value-added services to provide bottom line savings and ensure a positive business climate for the lodging industry.

  • Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research Roundtables

    Center roundtables are a meeting place for invited senior-level hospitality industry executives and Cornell faculty members. Each roundtable lasts one day and is divided into four or five sessions. Sessions begin with a short research presentation (by a Cornell faculty member, faculty from another institution, or an industry leader) that lasts five to ten minutes. Immediately following, one or two industry discussants either support or contest the researcher's hypothesis or conclusion. The conversation is then opened up to the entire roundtable for discussion.

  • Hospitality Law Conference - Hospitality Net

    The annual Hospitality Law Conference is a one-of-a-kind opportunity designed for participants to share legal insight and best practices, and to gain a better understanding of the latest industry developments. It is the only program in the country and in the world devoted exclusively to legal, safety and security issues impacting the hotel, restaurant, and travel industries.

  • Hospitality Trends

    Founded in 1998 by Thomas Wahl and initially focusing on the hotel industry, the Nevistas network has evolved into the leading online information and knowledge base for not only the hospitality industry, but also the all and many other channels.

  • National Restaurant Association

    The National Restaurant Association now represents more than 380,000 of those businesses — from restaurants and suppliers to educators and non-profits — and provides each one with the valuable resources needed to stay ahead in a fast-paced industry.

Articles on HG.org Related to Hospitality Law

  • Beijing and Shanghai Allow 72-hour Transit without Visa for Citizens from 45 Countries
    Beijing and Shanghai will allow 72-hour transit without visa for Citizens from 45 Countries from Januanry 1st, 2013.
  • The Hazards of Tourist Season for Your Betrothed
    The warmer weather and sunny skies of spring have arrived in the U.S., opening the gates to tourists from around the globe, but one group of tourists should be especially mindful of the legal hazards of visiting the U.S. If you are a foreigner engaged to a U.S. citizen and living abroad, then your petition for a K-1 visa will establish your intent to marry an American citizen and stay here permanently.
  • Tourist Season Easier for Some than Others
    The summer travel season is fast approaching, and many foreign citizens are making plans now to visit the U.S., but they won’t be going anywhere without the necessary immigration compliance preparations. Generally, the “necessary preparations” would include obtaining a tourist visa, but it is possible to avoid the paperwork, fees and waiting associated with this step if you are an eligible citizen of a country that is enrolled in the U.S. visa waiver program.
  • Hotels and Tourism Licensing and Regulatory Regimes - Nigeria
    A proper understanding of the various federal, state and local government licensing and regulatory regimes in the Hotels, Hospitality and Tourism markets in Nigeria is critical to the execution and substance of a viable business plan in any of these sectors. This Legal Alert is our contribution to your achieving this objective. - Legal Alert – April 2012 – Hotels & Tourism Licensing and Regulatory Regimes
  • Overbooking: Your Legal Rights
    Accommodation booked, your itinerary perfectly planned, bags are packed and you are ready to go. You rush to the airport and the assistant behind the counter says to you in the most polite manner, "I am sorry, but the flight is full". You begin to argue, however, to no avail as there is "unfortunately, nothing that can be done". Sound familiar? For most of us, we or someone we know, has been the victim of a scenario similar to the one played out above.
  • Dominican Law 158-01 of Tourism Incentives for Development
    The tax benefits of Law 158-01 may extend to the purchase and acquisition of Dominican Republic real estate such as second homes and vacation villas of projects located in designated tourist zones.
  • New PA Law to Ban Texting While Driving Passed
    A Pennsylvania law to ban texting while driving statewide has been passed and will soon go into effect.
  • Legal Alert - Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011
    The Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 provides for comprehensive provisions to prohibit the financing of terrorism, the laundering of the proceeds of a crime or of any illegal activity. This Law further provides for a wide range of penalties and expands the scope of the supervisory and regulatory authorities in Nigeria to combat money laundering offenses. The fact that a money laundering offense was committed in different jurisdictions or different parts of the world is no longer relevant.
  • Traumatic Brain Injuries and Youth Athletics— What Do Ski Area Operators Need to Know?
    Traumatic brain injuries (“TBIs”) among young athletes have garnered increased attention recently, due in large part to a growing awareness in the medical and athletic communities regarding the prevalence and potentially devastating effects of head injuries in youth sports.
  • Foreign Invested Travel Consulting Company: A Way to Promote Outbound Tourism
    With the promulgation of the Regulation on Travel Agencies as of February 20, 2009 (“Regulation”), China has opened its doors to the foreign investors in the tourism business. However, the door of outbound tourism business is still firmly closed to the foreign investors. This Article will discuss the way to promote outbound tourism by setting up foreign invested travel consulting company in China.
  • All Leisure Law Articles

    Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Leisure including: art and cultural property, entertainment law, gaming, hospitality law, sports and recreation, tourism and travel.