HOTEL INDUSTRY FACING MASS CLOSURES

With seven in ten Americans not expecting to travel over the holiday season, 71 percent of hotel owners will not survive another six months without government aid and 77 percent will lay off more workers, hoteliers said in a November survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association of 1,200 of its members.
Forty-seven percent said they would be forced to permanently close inns before next summer, and about 34 percent said they would be bankrupt or forced to sell their properties before the end of next March.
Also, 82 percent of survey respondents said they have not been able to extend any debt relief from their lenders beyond the end of the year; and 59 percent are now in danger of foreclosure as a result of the economic shutdown, 10 percent more than in September.
TRENDPOST: Nationwide, hotel occupancy was 44.2 percent for the week ending 7 November, compared to 68.2 percent a year earlier, according to data firm STR. In urban centers, occupancy was a dismal 34.6, down more than half from 79.6 percent year on year.
The industry does not expect business or group travel to return to peak 2019 levels until 2023.