Covid-19: Do You Know What It Means for the Local Hotel Industry?
According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), the hotel industry in the United States is experiencing an unprecedented drop in hotel demand and it’s getting worse every day. Here in Louisiana, the hotel industry supports 120,404 jobs – 37,796 of which are direct hotel operations jobs. Hotel owners are already reporting massive layoffs.
While you can’t travel now, you can support this vital industry by planning a visit in the future. French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest have been postponed to October – perfect weather for dining in New Orleans courtyards and lounging on balconies. And with events like Celebration in the Oaks and Candlelight Caroling in Jackson Square, the holidays in New Orleans are always magical. Check out our event schedule for the year.
If you reserve with our local hotels now, it will not only help them, but you can sometimes get great advanced reservations specials and perks. Please click through to their sites individually from our Hotel Guide.
Here are some additional stats from the AHLA:
- In the U.S, 1 million direct jobs, or nearly 3.9 million total jobs, have either been eliminated or will be eliminated in the next few weeks.
- Since mid-February in the U.S., hotels have already lost $2.4 billion in room revenue.
- This pace means a loss of $1.4 billion every week and will only further escalate as the situation worsens.
- Most hoteliers are reporting projected revenue losses of greater than 50% for the first half of the year.
- The majority of hoteliers ands major hotel managers are already reporting significant layoffs and furloughs, in many cases affecting 80% or more of staff.
- Individual hotels and major operators are projecting occupancies below 20% for upcoming months.
- At an occupancy rate of 35% or lower, hotel may simply close their doors, putting 33,000 small business at immediate risk.