A Message from ORHMA's President... ORHMA has embarked into 2019 with high energy and looking forward to achieving many successes for Ontario’s hotels and restaurants. The traditional New Year’s Song “Auld Lang Syne” written by Robert Burns starts with “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne!” 
 This past year will never be forgotten. A remarkable roller coaster year with punitive legislation stemming from Bill 148  to a much brighter ending with Bill 47 repealing much of the damage. ORHMA has been in the forefront of this case right from the beginning fighting against onerous amendments and then calling for positive changes that ended up in Bill 47. We thank the Ministry of Labour for their understanding and for listening to ORHMA as the voice of the industry and its members on the impacts of Bill 148. Be sure that ORHMA continues to be  at the table with more favourable labour changes in the pipeline to come. 

Not surprisingly, municipalities across the province are embracing the Municipal Accommodation Tax and ORHMA has been digging into destinations that the hotel community needs support to establish a voice and be relevant. In cities such as North Bay and Timmins, hotel associations have been set up to enable overall tourism success and a forum to build local hotel strength while at the provincial level we are pursuing fair-minded progressive amendments…. so stay tuned.    

The City of Toronto has approved short-term rental regulations which are currently under an appeal. The regulations proposed have been viewed as a framework that provides fair and management standards for the City to apply effective enforcement, setting a precedent for other jurisdictions to follow.  Furthermore, ORHMA joined HAC and other provincial and city organizations as a participant in Ottawa strongly advocating for taxation rules.  

 2019 will be a year where the hospitality industry will see meaningful and measurable red tape reductions. At present, ORHMA is working with a number of Ministries in bringing recommendations forward to streamline onerous regulations. There is so much work ahead of us but it is invigorating to see optimistic results. 

It  would be unacceptable if I closed this message without mentioning our significant success stemming from the development of ORHMA’s credit card merchant rate program. It is understandable to have non-believers on this due to unkept promises by many in the past and fueled by over indulgence of inundated sales calls. We identified this as a high expense that can be further reduced. Our ORHMA team is ready to add significant and real value to your bottom line with this and all our cost saving programs. Give us a call. 

So, for Auld Lang Syne and to all our new and ‘auld’ acquaintances, we appreciate your support and we thank you for your continued trust in ORHMA where there is benefit in belonging. 

Cheers, Tony Elenis President & CEO Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA)