Source: Hotel Business
July 24, 2020
WASHINGTON –AAHOA outlined specific and necessary actions the government must take to help avert a catastrophic economic collapse of the hospitality industry. In a letter to congressional leadership, AAHOA highlighted the challenges facing hotel owners, from the liquidity crisis that has plagued the industry since the pandemic’s start to the limitations and complications hoteliers encountered while attempting to seek relief from earlier stimulus efforts, such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
“Hotel owners are in a precarious situation—through no fault of their own—and are struggling to keep their doors open,” said AAHOA President/CEO Cecil P. Staton. “The small businesses that own and operate the thousands of hotels across the country and the millions of jobs they support will not recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic until people begin traveling again. Until that time, hotel owners need targeted and immediate economic stimulus or the industry will collapse.”
Hotel occupancy rates cratered with the onset of this pandemic, and without guests to serve, rooms to clean, shuttles to drive or meals to prepare, hoteliers find themselves without working capital to pay employees and meet their debt obligations. Most experts anticipate that the industry will not recover until at least 2023.
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