Even as tourists return to popular destinations, a new report says nearly 500,000 hotel jobs lost in the United States during the pandemic will not return this year.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association released their midyear report with two key findings: One in five of the lodging jobs lost nationwide would not come back by next January, and revenues will be off by $44 billion nationwide from their highs in 2019.
In a state-by-state breakdown, the organization estimated that New York state would be missing more than 44,000 hotel jobs by year’s end. The report did not give a breakdown of New York’s revenue loss.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association has been urging Congress to consider legislative action to protect the industry, including passing the Save Hotel Jobs Act, which would provide $20 billion to hotels to cover payrolls.
The organization is also pushing to establish per diem rates for government travel based on 2019 hotel rates rather than using the past year.
Read More: Industry: 500K hotel jobs won’t return this year | News