The Orlando Guardian
Even if tourists return to popular travel destinations, a new report says nearly 500,000 hotel jobs lost in the US during the pandemic will not return this year.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association released its semi-annual report with two key findings: one in five of the lodging jobs lost nationwide would not return until next January, and revenues nationwide will decline $ 44 billion from their 2019 highs.
In a state breakdown, the organization estimated that Florida would be missing more than 44,000 hotel jobs by the end of the year. The report did not include a breakdown of Florida’s lost revenue.
Preliminary June figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed more than a million recreational and hospitality jobs in the state, 210,000 fewer than in February 2020.
For Metro Orlando, however, the picture may not be so bad. As of the second week of July, revenue per available room in the region was $ 95.87, up 15% over the same period in 2019, according to hotel analysts STR.
Orlando occupancy was still slightly down from July 2019, 72% versus 76%, but was above the current national rate of 67.2%.
Casandra Matej, President and CEO of Visit Orlando, said the employment problems that hotels in Orlando, Florida are seeing are not due to a lack of visitors. “We’re recovering faster than we thought,” she said.
She says that hotels limit their occupancy themselves because of a lack of applicants for vacancies. “We’re trying to make it known that there are a lot of good job opportunities,” she said.
The missing piece in tourism-dependent Florida is business travel, said Carol Dover, president of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.
Echoing a sentiment she shared last month, Dover wrote in a statement: “Despite an impressive recovery in vacation travel, business travel – the main source of income for hotels – is still declining significantly, cruises are non-operating and the labor shortage crisis is crippling Ability to work with sufficient capacity. “
More than 10,000 hotel workers in the Orlando metropolitan area were laid off or on leave during the COVID-19 pandemic, and when all major theme parks closed, thousands more were laid off in the hospitality industry.
Many central Florida hotels reopened last summer when the lockdown wore off, and business has grown and job fairs have been held for new hires since the vaccines were introduced.
Hotel and timeshare chains like Westgate have said they have reinstated most of their former employees.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association has urged Congress to consider legislative measures to protect the industry, including passing the Save Hotel Jobs Act, which would give hotels $ 20 billion to cover payrolls .
The organization is also pushing to set daily government travel rates based on 2019 hotel prices rather than using last year’s.
Copyright 2021 Tribune Content Agency.
