Los Angeles hotel executives are raising urgent concerns that a city-mandated minimum wage increase is undermining the hospitality industry at the worst possible time. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. Women's Open, and the 2028 Summer Olympics all on the horizon, industry leaders say the policy is already reducing hiring, slashing labor hours, and scaring off new hotel investments.
The law, signed by Democratic Mayor Karen Bass last year, requires hourly wages for airport and hotel workers to climb by $2.50 per year until reaching $30 an hour by 2028. Rosanna Maietta, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, told Fox News Digital that roughly 100 restaurants have closed in the past year and about 6% of affected workers have already lost their jobs. "If the city doesn't start working with the business community, by 2028, things will be very different in terms of room availability at hotels," she warned.
An AHLA report found that the mandate has stripped operators of the flexibility to manage fluctuating market conditions, leading to delayed or canceled development projects and reduced airline operations at nearby airports. The study was not simply an industry initiative — it was commissioned under a 2015 city ordinance requiring an economic review every three years, with the city itself providing the survey questions.
Not everyone is sympathetic. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, a vocal supporter of the wage hike, dismissed the findings as corporate spin. "Billionaire corporations spent millions of dollars trying to avoid paying their workers and providing them healthcare, and they failed," he said, arguing that fair wages would ultimately boost the local economy. Mayor Bass did not respond to a request for comment.
The stakes extend well beyond labor policy. Los Angeles is counting on a fully operational hospitality sector to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected for SoFi Stadium's World Cup matches and the Olympic Games. If the industry's warnings prove accurate, the city could face an embarrassing room shortage just as the global spotlight lands squarely on Southern California.
