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INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) – New study commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association shows Indiana’s hotel industry to end the year down nearly $ 644 million in business travel revenue per compared to 2019. The accommodation industry has been crippled by the pandemic, with business travel being its main source of income. The new analysis follows a recent national AHLA investigation, which found that most business travelers cancel, cut back and postpone their trips amid rising COVID-19 cases.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association general manager Patrick Tamm said hotel occupancy rates associated with business travel have been slow to return.
“We come back on Sunday night and we’re down to a single digit, maybe among the teenagers. There is just no business travel, ”Tamm said. “Our” bread and butter travelers, when they come for this Monday meeting, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, we just don’t see these people. “
Tamm says business travel is essential for all hotels, but especially in central business districts. He says all metro areas in Indiana face the same fate.
“Not just downtown Indianapolis, but downtown Fort Wayne, South Bend Evansville, all those central business districts where key business takes place without people being in our traditional offices and spaces and in our traditional office meetings and sales calls, ”Tamm said.
The trade association does not expect a recovery in the business travel sector until 2024, which includes businesses, groups and government entities. But even then, travel is unlikely to be at the same level as it was before the pandemic, as the uptake and use of video calling remains constant. However, Tamm says the person-to-person connection is still necessary.
“You can’t get to know someone or what their problems are or discover problems in a factory or in a hospital through Zoom or a small screen on your laptop. It’s not the same as a human connection, ”Tamm said.
The AHLA says that without Congressional action, the industry will end 2021 with around 500,000 jobs, even if leisure and convention travel, especially to Indianapolis, is slowly recovering.
“People are very interested in going out, in pleasure travel, which is fantastic,” Tamm said. “But we need people to also start to resume their activities, to go back to the office and get vaccinated as well. “
The AHLA is pushing for the passage of the Save Hotel Jobs Act currently before Congress. The measure would provide relief to unemployed hoteliers in the form of direct wage allowances.
Additionally, properties that receive subsidies would be required to grant laid-off workers recall rights, ensuring that those who lost their hotel jobs due to the pandemic could resume their duties.
Tamm says the measure would also help hotels that use cash reserves stay on top of debt.
“Business travel is critical to the viability of our industry, especially during the fall and winter months when leisure travel normally begins to decline,” said Chip Rogers, President and CEO. direction of AHLA. “That is why it is time for Congress to pass the bipartisan Save Hotel Jobs Act to help hotel workers and small business owners survive this crisis.”
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