According to a new report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), around half of all US hotel rooms will be vacant this year.
In its annual Forecast of the hotel industryThe retail group expects a nationwide hotel occupancy rate of 52.4% on average for 2021. Although this number is above the annual average occupancy rate of 44% in 2020, it is still well below the average of 66% in 2019.
Likewise, US hotel room revenue is expected to be 34% below 2019 levels in 2021 and around $ 110.5 billion.
Related report: STR: 2020 worst year for US hotels
The AHLA report also draws attention to the industry’s high unemployment rate, which approached 19% in December. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the pandemic has estimated employment growth in the accommodation sector to be more than 10 years.
“The loss of jobs has been massive,” said AHLA CEO Chip Rogers during a web forum hosted by the organization on Thursday. “And although we will see an increase in jobs in our industry [this year]We won’t be anywhere near where we were in 2019. “
Related report: According to the AHLA, hotels are “uniquely positioned” to provide vaccinations
While AHLA expects the hotel sector to create 200,000 direct jobs in the hotel business in 2021,
The industry will continue to have nearly 500,000 jobs below its pre-pandemic employment level of 2.3 million workers.
In terms of demand, the group expects business travel to decrease by 85% for 2021 compared to 2019. Rogers called the expected shortage of business travel this year “the most damaging part of the economic impact we’ve seen so far.”
In the area of leisure travel, however, the prognosis is significantly better. The report cited the latest AHLA consumer survey results, which found 56% of Americans say they are expected to go for leisure or vacation in 2021. That number roughly equates to the 58% of Americans who said they spent at least one night in a hotel a year for leisure in 2019.
“If everyone gets away with their intentions, vacation trips will return in 2021,” said Rogers.
