Amy Rohrer, president and CEO of the Maryland Hotel Lodging Association, said Friday that the state’s hotel industry needed financial assistance from the federal government to avoid the possibility of permanent job losses.
Below is an edited excerpt from an interview Rohrer conducted with MarylandReporter.com. Rohrer discussed how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the hotel business, the prospects for vacation bookings and the general challenges facing the industry.
What is the current state of the Maryland hotel industry and how has the pandemic affected business?
Rohrer: We certainly still have a long way to go to recovery. But we are gradually seeing an increase in demand for vacation travel, which is good news. This has come back faster than expected due to consumer confidence, with more and more people being vaccinated, as well as pent-up demand for vacationers eager to leave the home.
However, we know that business travel is very slow to come back. That is not expected to increase again until next year. A full recovery is not expected until 2024. Business travel is the largest source of income for hotels. And it’s down 85% and is unlikely to return anytime soon.
Memorial Day weekend will be here in a couple of weeks. What do hotel bookings look like in typical hotspots like Ocean City?
Rohrer: I heard anecdotally that Ocean City is in great demand. This goes back to the upward trend in vacation travel. But hotels have staffing issues across the state. But especially in vacation destinations like Ocean City. As a result, some hotels cannot fully open all rooms. You have to limit the occupancy due to a lack of staff. Due to the staff shortage, they may have to limit bookings to a certain level.
Since the pandemic began, many industries have received financial support from both local and state governments and the federal government. Does Maryland Hospitality Need Financial Aid?
Rohrer: Yes. The answer is absolutely yes. We urgently need relief. We received $ 50 million in relief in Maryland, as announced by Governor Larry Hogan last December. And this aid money, which got into the hands of hotels, was an important lifeline that helped many of our hotels to survive these harsh winter months.
But we still need relief. There are actually federal laws that have been put in place:Save Hotel Jobs Act. ‘Until then, hotels are one of the industries that have been badly hit by the pandemic. And yet we are the only industry that has not received any relief at the federal level. And it is absolutely necessary.
How bad would the situation be if the state hotel industry did not receive financial support?
Rohrer: There is a possibility that jobs in the hotel industry will be permanently lost, which not only affects the hotels, but also affects the economy. An economic study from Oxford shows that for every ten people who work in a hotel, an additional 26 jobs in the community are supported. There are a variety of companies that rely on the presence of hotel guests, such as: B. Restaurants as well as retail and hotel suppliers. If hotel jobs are permanently lost, the impact will ultimately extend well beyond our industry.
What is the biggest challenge facing the state’s hospitality industry?
Rohrer: We lost some of our employees to other industries during the period when hotels were closed and there was no demand. With the demand for vacation travel rising again, it is a situation where we are struggling to find enough staff to meet current demand.
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