Report: U.S. unemployment’s impact on hospitality
A report prepared for the U.S. Travel Association by Tourism Economics underscores just how hard-hit the travel and tourism industry has been during the pandemic. Highlights include:
- 40% of excess U.S. unemployment is in the leisure and hospitality sector, despite that sector accounting for 11% of all pre-pandemic employment in the U.S.
- Despite some jobs being slowly restored with the onset of the spring and summer travel seasons, more than a quarter of all L&H workers remain unemployed — double the next most hard-hit industry
- Nearly half of the 16.9 million jobs in the L&H sector were wiped out in March and April
- If every industry recovered to its pre-pandemic employment level except for L&H, the overall employment rate would fall from 10.2% to 6.2% — still 2.7% higher than pre-pandemic levels
Almost 60% of German hotels, restaurants see risk of closure
Almost 60% of German companies in the hotel and restaurant industry saw their existence at risk, according to a survey from the German Hotel and Restaurant Association. The survey of 7,200 restaurant and hotel operators showed that companies suffered an average turnover decline of 60.1%. In April, sales had a “dramatic” drop of 86.8%. Although restaurants and hotels in Germany were allowed to reopen under restrictions, the “distress in the industry is still great,” the survey noted.
Record low occupancy for London hotels
STR’s preliminary July data for London hotels showed record-low occupancy.
Comparison with July 2019:
Occupancy: -74.8% to 22.8%
ADR: -52.4% to GBP83.61 (US$109.36)
RevPAR: -88.0% to GBP19.02 (US$24.88)
The absolute occupancy level would be the lowest for any month on record in STR’s London database. ADR and RevPAR were up from June levels. Regional markets in the U.K. continue to outperform capital cities.
Watch STR’s most recent video on weekly U.K. performance
Transatlantic cooperation critical, association says
The Global Business Travel Association is stressing cooperation between the EU, Canada and the U.S. in order to restore safe travels and reboot the economy. The association says safety is paramount and should weigh heavily in discussions of restarting travel. Contact-tracing applications can also effectively help fight the pandemic but can only if subject to a common set of standards to enable rapid exchange of information and limit the risks of further outbreaks.