Miami hotels are projected to lose $830 million in business travel revenue in 2021, down 62.6 percent compared to 2019 levels, according to a recent report from the American Hotel & Lodging Association and Kalibri Labs. Orlando hotels, meanwhile, are projected to lose $2.27 billion in business travel revenue in 2021, down 81.5 percent compared to 2019.
Florida hotels stand to lose more than $5.3 billion, while hotels across the nation are projected to end 2021 down more than $59 billion in business travel revenue compared to 2019, after losing nearly $49 billion in 2020.
The new analysis comes on the heels of a recent AHLA survey that found most business travelers are canceling, reducing and postponing trips amid continued COVID-19 concerns.
Related: Business travel continues forward with uncertainty
Business travel, which includes corporate, group, government and other commercial categories, is the hotel industry’s largest source of revenue and is not expected to reach prepandemic levels until 2024.
Hotels are expected to end 2021 down nearly 500,000 jobs compared to 2019, including more than 44,000 lost jobs in Florida. For every 10 people directly employed on a hotel property, hotels support an additional 26 jobs in the community, from restaurants and retail to hotel supply companies—meaning an additional nearly 1.3 million hotel-supported jobs are also at risk nationwide, according to the report.
Save Hotel Jobs Act
To extend a lifeline to hotel workers and provide the assistance needed to survive until travel returns to pre-pandemic levels, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (Fla.-22) has co-sponsored the Save Hotel Jobs Act currently before Congress that would direct 100 percent of its funding to keep hotel workers on the payroll. Earlier this week, U.S. Representatives Darren Soto (FL-09) and Val Demings (FL-10) also signed on as co-sponsors to the Act, which was introduced to the Senate on April 29, read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Related: AHLA, Unite Here join forces to support Save Hotel Jobs Act
AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers applauded Deutch for co-sponsoring the legislation. “We’d like to thank Representative Deutch for supporting our workforce during one of the most difficult years on record,” Rogers said. “While many other hard-hit industries have received targeted federal relief, the hotel industry has not. We need Congress to pass the bipartisan Save Hotel Jobs Act so hotels can retain and rehire employees until travel demand, especially business travel, comes back to pre-pandemic levels.”