GEORGIA — State experts say it could be 2 years before local hotels are back to pre-COVID-19 occupancy numbers. Some of the big contracts we had in the pipeline won’t be back for at least 5 to 6 years.
Channel 2’s Dave Huddleston learned the impact this has had on the local economy.
Hotel and lodging representatives told Huddleston 95 percent of the close to 130,000 hotel workers are on furlough, a tremendous impact on our economy.
The good news is they are slowly starting to get back on track.
“We saw the business drop off to virtually nothing,” Jim Sprouse, executive director of the Georgia Hotel and Lodging Association, said.
He says the coronovirus nearly wiped out their industry.
“Around metro Atlanta, 95 percent of our workforce is furloughed,” Sprouse said.
Even big hotels like the Four Seasons Atlanta suspended operations. They plan to reopen in mid-May.
“The last survey I saw showed 115,000 hotel workers out of work,” Sprouse said.
More than 100,000 visitors were set to come to Atlanta for the Final 4. All that revenue, gone. Sprouse says the industry is now ready to fight back.
They’ve partnered with the CDC and developed new cleaning guidelines called “Safe Stay.”
“You know in the past we did a lot of that cleaning out of the sight of the guest, you’re going to find that much more visible now, because we want people to have confidence that it’s happening and it’s happening frequently,” Sprouse said.
You will also see constant cleaning of high touch areas like elevators and door handles, enhanced housekeeping for rooms, and more options like touch free and mobile check-in service.
Sprouse says also look for commercials for local business groups to have their conventions right there.
“Think of it as a buy in Georgia, stay in Georgia campaign. Georgia businesses need to support Georgia businesses by hosting their events in Georgia when they do so,” Sprouse said.
He says that goes for local travel as well.
If you want to get away, there’s plenty to do and see right here in Georgia: the beaches, the mountains, the big or small cities.
He says also look for local incentives including, which could be price incentives to vacation close to home.
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