Maryland Hotel Lodging Association Hosts 2025 Annual Meeting

Annapolis, Md. (January 15, 2025) – On Friday, January 10, 2025, members of the Maryland Hotel Lodging Association (MHLA) – including General Managers, industry associates, partners and vendors from Maryland’s statewide lodging industry – gathered at the Maritime Conference Center for the MHLA Annual Meeting & Member Appreciation Breakfast. The Premier Event Sponsors for this event were TownePark and Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County.

Following the breakfast, MHLA’s Chair Linda Westgate called the meeting to order and shared updates with the group. In her remarks she stated, "MHLA is starting out 2025 incredibly strong in terms of membership with a record number of total organizations belonging to the Association, including more than 32,000 hotel rooms across the state.  MHLA continues to grow and increased support by members helps to strengthen our voice and advocacy on behalf of Maryland's lodging industry." ​Additionally, the 2025 Board of Directors was announced, and the slate was approved during the meeting. Click here for the full list of the MHLA Board of Directors.

Linda took time to thank the sponsors for the event as well as members for their continued support.  Platinum Partners have shown significant support for the association by contributing $15,000 or more in partner dues and sponsorship of MHLA events throughout the year.  Four Platinum Partners were announced and given a certificate of recognition for 2025: Ecolab, the Maryland Office of Tourism, Sunlight Energy Group and Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County. 

Special thanks and recognition was also given to Liz Fitzsimmons, Managing Director of the Department of Commerce, Office of Tourism and Film.  Liz has been an integral part of Maryland's tourism industry for more than 30 years and will be retiring on February 1.  MHLA President & CEO Amy Rohrer commented, "Liz has provided tremendous support to MHLA over the years.  She has a depth of knowledge and history of Maryland's tourism industry that few can surpass and has always gone above and beyond to share her insights for the benefit of all.  Liz will surely be missed, and we wish her all the best in retirement."  

Each year, MHLA announces its Ambassador of the Year at the Annual Meeting.  And for 2025, we were pleased to recognize two partners for their contributions and efforts that led to significantly increased MHLA lodging membership this past year!

Guest Speaker Chirag Shah, American Hotel Lodging Association (AHLA) Executive Vice President for Federal and Political Affairs and Counsel took the stage to share a Federal Update with the group and allowed time for questions following his overview.

MHLA President and CEO, Amy Rohrer then took the stage to also thank members and to introduce the members of MHLA’s 2025 Legislative Committee click here for the list of committee members. Consisting of a diverse group of representatives from hotels across the state, the committee meets weekly during the 90-day Maryland General Assembly Session, to monitor legislation and actively advance and protect the interests of MHLA members as bills are proposed and potentially passed into law. The MHLA Legislative Committee is co-chaired by Chuck Chandler, General Manager, Residence Inn Fulton at Maple Lawn and Jim Starke, VP of Hotel Operations, Best Western Plus BWI Airport-Arundel Mills.   

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As the Maryland General Assembly convened its 2025 session on January 8, MHLA lobbyists Frank Boston and Ari Plaut from Boston Plaut: Attorneys at Law and Chuck Chandler joined Amy on stage as a panel to discuss the upcoming Maryland General Assembly session and issues they are already monitoring in Annapolis that could impact hotels.

The event provided an exciting start to a promising new year for MHLA, uniting members for an inspiring kick off of this year’s legislative session. With continued engagement through membership and MHLA events, the association is confident that 2025 will be a year of continued growth and impactful connections.