The American Hotel & Lodging Association launched a new national campaign that focuses on the economic benefits the hospitality industry can provide to communities throughout the U.S. The campaign is backed by data showing the hotel industry supports 8 million jobs throughout the country and contributes an estimated $600 billion annually to the U.S. GDP.
The study was conducted by Oxford Economics, and some of the report's findings include:
- More than 1 billion guests stay in hotels every year.
- Hotels support $1.1 trillion in U.S. sales, including hotel revenue, guest spending and taxes.
- Hotels generate $170 billion in local, state and federal taxes.
- Hotels contribute nearly $600 billion to the U.S. GDP.
- Guests spend nearly $500 billion at hotels and local businesses.
“Hotels play an important role in each congressional district around the country, from the jobs lodging businesses support to the billions of dollars our members contribute to taxes and the U.S. GDP annually,” Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of the AHLA, said in a statement. “Our Dreams Happen Here campaign underscores the strength and unity of our industry and more importantly the commitment and investment in the most important part of our industry: our people.”
The report also found that hotels support $335 billion in total labor income, while the hotel industry has increased wage and salary income by $18.5 billion since 2005, paying employees $74 billion in 2015. In addition, there are more than 54,200 hotel properties in the U.S. hotel industry, and over 33,000 of them are small businesses.
“The American Dream is thriving in the hotel sector,” Lugar said. “Our industry offers unrivaled upward mobility for its employees. At each hotel across the country, there are countless stories of individuals who start in entry-level jobs and quickly move up the ranks to run some of the largest hotel companies in the world.”
In backing up this new data, the AH&LA will promote a number of hospitality events throughout Washington, D.C., in promotion of the industry. These events include a food truck providing complimentary coffee and cookies to congressional staff, and meetings between member company CEOs and U.S. senators and representatives from both major political parties.