VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A federal bill introduced this week to help hotels recover from the pandemic with government-related travel.
The Restored, Equitable, Coronavirus Adjusted Lodging (RECAL) Act is a bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. sensors Tim Kaine and Jerry Moran.
The draft law provides for the daily allowances that will be made available to German travelers for the next two years on their higher pre-pandemic amounts, so that hotels can receive the urgently needed pre-pandemic prices from guests.
“We managed to do this last year to freeze rates in the middle of the pandemic. We are very optimistic that we can do this this year, ”said Kaine.
The daily rates are set by the General Services Administration, which takes into account factors such as local hotel prices, occupancy and rates from previous years.
“If they did that and looked at hotel prices last year, because of the pandemic, they were incredibly low and people weren’t out and about. Hotels gave discounts from low to nothing, ”Kaine said.
Kaine says the price freeze this year will be a good thing not only for federal travelers in need of accommodations, but hotels as well.
“That would be good for military families and federal employees traveling, and good for local hotels. For a region like Hampton Roads, which is heavily reliant on tourism and federal traveling employees, ”he said.
John Zirkle says the legislation is right because hotels need the money and pro-government travelers should be able to stay in safe places close to where they do business.
“We think it would help the hotels a lot,” he said. “The GSA would do a two to three year review and consider the year 2020.”
Zirkle says that while there has been an increase in recreational and sports travel in recent months, government travel has also increased, which is good as the Hampton Roads economy is feeling its effects.
Behind leisure travel, says Zirkle, government-related travel with not only government employees but also contractors is number one in this market because of all the military bases.
“I think that’s why the area performed a little better than others during the pandemic because the government didn’t fire anyone,” he said.
Maintaining rates at pre-pandemic rates will greatly help their ailing industry trying to recover, while growing elsewhere as well.
“The hotel industry collapsed by 50% last year. They would cut subsistence allowances if costs increased. Labor costs have gone through the roof. Everything from towels to shampoo to coffee is increasing, ”said Zirkle.
Zirkle says the legislation now would help keep the current daily rates and could eventually be increased as more people start to travel.
While the hotel industry has been helped by resources like the paycheck protection program and grants, labor shortages are their biggest concern right now, according to Zirkle.
“We currently have more than 600 to 700 vacancies among 72 hotels that we cannot fill. We are going into the busiest season this year. It’s slower than in previous years, but it’s busy, ”he said.
To learn more about the RECAL law, Click here.
