The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and Oxford
Economics estimate that 4 million U.S. hotel jobs have either been eliminated
or are on the verge of being lost within the next few weeks. California,
Florida, New York, Texas and Nevada will have the steepest number of layoffs.
California is expected to take the biggest hit, with more
than 414,000 hotel-supported jobs expected to be lost across the state in because
of the Covid-19 shutdown.
Florida, Texas and New York follow with 305,100, 268,800 and
215,700 jobs projected to be eliminated, respectively.
In Nevada, where Las Vegas hotels and casinos had been
ordered closed for an initial period of 30 days, roughly 161,400 hotel-supported jobs
will be lost.
In recent weeks, the AHLA and leading industry executives
have put pressure on the U.S. government to provide emergency financial aid to
the hospitality sector, with AHLA CEO Chip Rogers telling White House officials
that the coronavirus has “had a more severe impact on the hotel industry than
9/11 and the 2008 recession combined.”
“The White House and Congress can take urgent action to
protect countless jobs, provide relief to our dedicated and hardworking
employees, and ensure that our small-business operators and franchise owners —
who represent more than half of hotels in the country — can keep their doors
open,” said Rogers in a recent statement.
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