Hospitality and Tourism Law Chapter 9

Hospitality and Tourism Law in Canada

• This is a guide to hospitality and tourism law in Canada.
• Chapter 9 covers the legal relationship between innkeepers and guests.
• The relationship between innkeepers and guests has become complex.
• The guest and the innkeeper have a legally binding relationship.

The Innkeeper / An Inn

• The innkeeper is willing to provide suitable accommodation in exchange for reasonable compensation.
• Compensation is tied to quality.
• An inn is an establishment (resorts, hotels, hostels, bed-and-breakfasts, motels, motor inns, short-term private property rentals, and campgrounds) with a formal legal definition.

The Guest

• Guests include tourists, business people, travelers, conventioneers, and family members.
• They stay at the inn with the innkeeper's consent.
• Guest expectations include attractive, safe, and comfortable shelter, along with a variety of amenities and services.

Complimentary Rooms

• Legal duties, responsibilities, and obligations owed by the innkeeper to a paying guest remain valid for complimentary rooms.
• Accommodation properties do not charge for complimentary rooms.

Non-Guests / Permanent Residents

• Non-guests include visitors of guests, attendees of events, pedestrians passing through, permanent residents, and retail lease holders.
• Permanent residents, are often long-term guests, and their relationship with the inn is negotiated through a long-term rental agreement.

The Landlord-Tenant Relationship

• A long-term rental of a hotel room often makes the guest a tenant.
• Courts consider various criteria and variables to determine the guest's status.
• In Alberta, a guest becomes a tenant if they stay at the property for at least six consecutive months.
• A Calgary court case, R. v. Lowry, (2006 ABPC 209) involved a dispute about a guest's status as a tenant or a guest when resisting police removal. The court decided the police were not lawfully removing him, and he was not found guilty.

General Public Access

• Hotel properties have a legal duty to accept and provide for all paying customers who follow house rules.
• Discrimination is not allowed.

Obligation to Provide Accommodation

• Innkeepers have a legal obligation to accommodate law-abiding citizens who can pay.
• Staff must be willing to assist, but can refuse if: there are no rooms due to renovations or repairs, or if rooms are blocked by reservations.

Screening Guests - 01/02

• Inns are prepared to screen guests.
• Screening cannot discriminate against protected categories under human rights legislation.
• Under the Alberta Innkeepers Act, potential guests must appear able to pay and be in a fit state to be received.

Screening Guests - 03

• Innkeepers can refuse or evict guests with contagious diseases (such as cholera, influenza, COVID, or tuberculosis), though AIDS is not considered contagious.
• A real or imminent threat of disease transmission must be present for refusal or eviction to be justified.

Refusing Accommodation

• Innkeepers can refuse accommodation with valid reasons, such as severe intoxication, carrying a dangerous contagious disease, known history of causing disturbances or failing to pay or engaging in illegal or immoral acts.

The Check-In Registration Process

• The guest-innkeeper relationship begins when a guest with a reservation engages with a hotel agent, or when a guest with no reservation is accepted by the hotel.

The Check-Out Departure Process

• The guest-innkeeper relationship ends when the guest pays and checks out, checkout time passes, the guest is presented with the bill or when the innkeeper notices that a guest must leave.

Innkeepers Have Rights Too

• Innkeepers can refuse guests in case of a full house, no luggage, suspicious behavior/delinquent guests, presence of pets (except service animals), or any other grounds to believe the guest presents a risk.
• Innkeepers can set house rules, including limitations on what guests can bring, damage/disturbances etc.

Right to Establish House Rules

• Innkeepers can create reasonable house rules to protect guests and themselves.
• Examples include no glass in the pool area, no bare feet in the lobby, or no horseplay.
• The inn must communicate and warn guests about consequences of violating house rules.

The Right to Evict Guests - 01/02

• Eviction must be legitimate; innkeepers should be prepared to justify evictions in court.
• No physical harm is required to justify eviction from an inn.
• The eviction process begins when the innkeeper notifies guest that they must leave.
• Requests to leave should be made privately and with courtesy. If the guest does not comply, contact the police.

The Right to Evict Non-Guests

• Non-guests can be asked to leave if they do not intend to be guests.
• Reasonable force is allowed, provided that the eviction is handled with care. Excessive force is prohibited.

Nonpayment

• Innkeepers can request payment from the guest for services rendered.
• Guests must provide reasonable explanations for not paying, or face eviction for nonpayment.

Persons of III-Repute

• Innkeepers can evict guests who are known prostitutes, gamblers, or drug dealers.
• Innkeepers can face legal action through a guest if eviction procedure was not conducted properly or was unfounded.
• It is usually not obvious if a guest is involved in these activities.
• Decisions for eviction should be considered carefully and made for good reasons.

The Check-Out Departure Process (Repeated)

• The guest-innkeeper relationship ends when the guest pays and checks out, checkout time passes, the room bill is presented (and the guest refuses to pay), or the innkeeper serves notice that the guest must leave by a certain time.

Guests Have Rights Too

• Guests can stay if they can pay.
• Guests should receive messages, mail, and packages.
• They should be provided the support of the inn if they need to contact police, fire and/or medical services.
• Hospitality is expected.
• Billing and disclosure are expected to be transparent.
• A guest is entitled to privacy.

Guest Rights - Right to be Entertained

• Guests have the right to be treated respectfully and courteously, as this is part of hospitality.
• Innkeepers must avoid any willful or careless treatment that could cause the guest distress or humiliation.

Right to have Luggage Admitted

• Innkeepers must accept guests' luggage, except for items not required for use during their stay.
• It is also usually their responsibility to ensure the safety of luggage on the premises. Luggage does not include unnecessary items that a guest may choose to bring.

Right to Full Disclosure of Charges

• Guests have the right to know room rates and extra service costs (such as phone or minibar charges) in advance.
• Charges shouldn't surprise the guest.

Right to Privacy / Exclusive Use

• Guests have the right to privacy in their rooms.

• Hotel staff can only enter the room with the guest's permission, in an emergency or to conduct housekeeping or maintenance.

• Guest's room may be used to move the guest to a different room.

• Guest's room may be used to terminate the innkeeper-guest relationship if payment is past due, and the guest has failed to comply.

• In other cases, innkeepers are expected to treat rooms like private residences, and give respect to the guest during their stay in the hotel.

Right to Proper Handling of Mail

• Innkeepers must deliver mail, faxes, telegrams, and packages to guests as quickly as reasonably possible.
• All communication contents should be kept confidential.
• Guest's room must be treated as a private residence.

Right to Security of Property

• Innkeepers are responsible for protecting guest property during the stay, as per common law.
• The Innkeeper is not responsible for property loss if damaged or destroyed because of a negligent staff.

Chapter 10: Managing Employees

• Human Resources (HR) is vital for company mindset and behavior.
• Encourage personnel to embrace core products and be proud of their contributions.
• Management must maintain a safe work environment and positive employee behavior.
• Knowledgeable staff are necessary, beginning with good communication and staff observation.
• Establish standards (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) for service interactions.

What is an Employee? / Allocation of Labour

• The employee represents the operation, sells to the customer, and fulfills the company promise to the customer.
• Allocation of labour requires job analysis, job description, and job specification.
• Needs analysis identifies performance gaps (in knowledge, practices, and skills).

Employee Orientation

• Crucial for creating a good atmosphere.
• Often includes a heavy focus on corporate culture, covering policies, job details, and team environment.

Orientation / Training / Development

• Enables learning, reduces anxiety, decreases turnover, boosts morale, decreases recruiting and training costs.
• Training builds skills and talents, fosters learning, provides performance feedback, and invests in employees.

Setting Operational Performance Goals

• Using SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely).

Motivating Employees / MBO

• Motivations include treatment, task performance, appreciation, and employee recognition.
• Management by Objectives (MBO) includes goal setting, objectives, and the appraisal process.

Employee Satisfaction / Social Media

• Examine employee thoughts, stress levels, pay, recognition, and support.
• Positive social media posts enhance an employer's reputation; the opposite is also true.
• Social media policies address many issues.

Employee Empowerment

• The Employment Equity Act (federal) provides guidance to employers.
• Each province has employment acts for employers.
• Includes a duty to accommodate, for example providing special software for visually impaired employees.

Safe and Healthy Work Environments

• Mental/physical health measures, employee assistance, and prevention of workplace harassment.
• Occupational health evaluations.
• Pay equity, occupational health and safety, the right to know, the right to refuse, and the right to participate.

Employment and Social Development Canada

• Enforces the federal Canada Labour Code.
• Provides information to the Treasury board and the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
• Substance dependence is a disability under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Government of Canada-Human Resource Management Terminology

• This covers the different aspects of the legislation.
• These aspects include: barriers, conflict of duties, conflict of interest, diversity, and employees, entitled to work in Canada.
• Also, flexible work arrangements and inclusion, job evaluation, people management, and positions.

Chapter 12: The Industry Today and Emerging Issues

• Hospitality and tourism businesses must monitor external issues that can affect operations.
• A PESTEL analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal) helps identify threats and mitigate risks.

Cannabis Goes Mainstream

• Cannabis-based hospitality has grown to include CBD spa treatments, cannabis-infused food and beverages, marijuana pairings with meals (where legal), and recreational use, including smoking on-site.
  • Vantage Hospitality Group and the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association have been involved in establishing guidelines and risk management.

The Evolving Laws Around Intoxication and Operating a "Vessel"

• Impaired operation of any vessel (including a canoe) falls under impaired driving laws.
• Motorized vehicles on land are charged under impaired driving laws.

Technology and Privacy

• The Marriott International hotel chain had a mass data breach, one of the largest in the world.
• Personal data is valuable, and innkeepers may face issues related to compensation for it being breached.

Indigenous Rights and Land Development Pressures

• Court rulings have removed barriers to development on sacred First Nations land, for example, a ski resort.

Gig Workers Unionize

• Foodora food couriers sought to join the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

Freedom of Movement for Foreign Hospitality Workers

• Temporary foreign workers' ability to quit their jobs and remain in the Canadian workforce is a legal issue requiring argument, decision, and impact review.

Toward a Sustainable Tourism Industry

• Over-tourism and the impact of COVID-19 have impacted the tourism industry. Sustainable resets on tourism on a global scale will be a significant issue to consider.

Chapter 11: Ownership and Property

• Ownership structures vary (sole proprietorship, partnerships, corporations, and cooperatives).
• Various forms of management exist (private, public, corporate, franchise, REIT, management contract).

Financial Commitment Equals Ownership

• Sole proprietorships require time, money, and motivation.
• Partnerships need agreements defining structure and authority.
• Corporations—common in hospitality—can be public or private, and often offer lower tax rates.
• Cooperatives are separate legal entities with equal voting rights and influence over decision-making.
• Franchising involve franchise licenses and risk taken by both parties. Chains are multiple locations under one parent company, as are related.

Hospitality for Sale

• Potential buyers of hospitality businesses need to consider external factors.
• Good counsel from accountants and lawyers is vital for reviewing assets and details.

Financial Management

• Financing includes private equity, public equity, debt financing, and internally generated funds (IGF).

Absolute Liability

• Innkeepers are responsible for guest safety.
• Due care and diligence starts when a guest interacts with a hotel representative.
• Examples of exceptions include guests leaving doors unlocked and unforeseeable incidents (like natural disasters).

Full Disclosure of Guest Property

• Guests should disclose the value of personal property.
• Innkeepers use this information to determine how to protect the property on their premises.

Property Valuation

• Estimating fair market values of property usually involves using the income capitalization approach, sales comparison approach, or cost approach.

Licenses, Regulations, and Codes

• Federal regulations (Competition Act, Food and Drugs Act, and Criminal Code) are relevant.
• Municipal-level licensing (for alcohol and food) is also significant.
• Codes set minimum standards for safety; During the pandemic, these issues were intensified.

This quiz focuses on Chapter 9 of Hospitality and Tourism Law in Canada, examining the legal relationships between innkeepers and guests. Discover the complexities of these relationships and the mutual expectations of both parties within various types of accommodations.