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Your Weekly AAHOA Wrap-Up for Friday, Feb. 12, 2021

Message from the President & CEO

AAHOA Members,

Committees in the House of Representatives are expected to finalize the legislative text of President Biden’s $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan today. Yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that the House version of the relief package will contain the minimum wage hike, which still faces an uphill battle if passed to the Senate. We are closely monitoring the developments in the House and Senate and will keep you informed of any pertinent updates.

More on the PPP

Earlier this week, the Small Business Administration announced that 1.3 million businesses have received $104 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds. On Tuesday, February 16, at 3 p.m. EST, join AAHOA Chairman Biran Patel; Mili Shah, Esq., MBA, SBA Lender, Ready Capital; and Keegan Bisch, Vice President, Stonehill, a hotel lending and debt financing firm, for a conversation on the PPP detailing what hoteliers need to know. Click here to join at the start time. 

Next Thursday I will be hosting a webcast with Roger Dow, President & CEO of U.S. Travel Association, and Chip Rogers, President & CEO of AHLA, to discuss updates on the Biden administration, the vaccine roll-out, hotel profitability, and more. Register for the webcast here.

We appreciate your engagement and support and will continue to keep you well-informed of political developments and small-business assistance in the coming weeks. Stay well and have a great weekend.

Cecil P. Staton

AAHOA President & CEO

Top 10 Things to Know This Week

STR:  From First Place to MVP – A Look at Which U.S. Markets “Outperformed” in 2020

While none of the top markets in 2020 were able to make it past the 60% occupancy level, there is hope (and proof in historical data) that the U.S. hotel industry can slowly recover from the worst performance year on record. In late January, STR released its first forecast of the year with Tourism Economics. While the forecast was downgraded from the previous November version, full recovery of demand remains on track for 2023, while close-to-complete RevPAR recovery is still projected for 2024. Occupancy in 2021 is projected to increase 16.6%, followed by a 24.2% jump in the metric for 2022.

GBTA: Financial Impact of Global Travel Decline Expected to be 10x the Great Recession and 9/11 

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its annual BTI™ Outlook, a detailed analysis of business travel in 2020, with projections for 2021 and beyond. The BTI Outlook released a forecast on business travel recovery for 2021, which indicates a 21% increase in business travel spending in 2021. Most of this gain is expected to come at the end of 2021 as vaccinations increase globally and consumer confidence returns. In addition, the report suggests a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels by 2025.

The ‘Vaccine Passport’: Soon, Travel May Require Digital Documentation of Vaccination or Test

Among governments and those in the travel industry, a new term has entered the vocabulary: vaccine passport. One of President Biden’s executive orders aimed at curbing the pandemic asks government agencies to “assess the feasibility” of linking coronavirus vaccine certificates with other vaccination documents, and producing digital versions of them. Denmark’s government said on Wednesday that in the next three to four months, it will roll out a digital passport that will allow citizens to show they have been vaccinated. 

ADA Defense Lawyer: Hotels Must List Accessible Features on the Web or Risk Lawsuits 

We previously warned the hotel industry of the inevitable explosion of ADA website lawsuits filed against hotels. Well, that time is here. In 2020, we saw a surge of lawsuits filed against those in the hotel industry, alleging the failure to comply with 28 C.F.R. Section 36.302 (e) of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires hotels to list their accessible features on their websites as well as on the websites of online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Travelocity, Orbitz, hotels.com, etc. We expect this surge of lawsuits to continue well into 2021.

Travel Pulse: Vaccines Lead to Surge in Travel Planning

Pandemic-weary people are ready for a vacation and vaccines are providing hope for many travelers. Longwoods International alongside Miles Partnership is tracking Americans’ travel habits and has found that travel planning is at an all-time high. One of the biggest reasons is the hope provided through the vaccine rollout. In a recent survey, the percentage of travelers who say the coronavirus is greatly impacting their decision to travel during this time period has dropped to 40 percent, the lowest level since March 2020.

Mark Your Calendars for Our Upcoming Events and Webcasts!

• Virtual Event: A Conversation on PPP Lending: What Hoteliers Need to Know, 3 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 16

• Webcast: How to Leverage Forward-Looking Data to Identify Future Recovery Trends, 1 p.m. EST, Feb. 18

• Webcast: 2021 Industry Outlook One Year Post-COVID: A Roundtable with Hospitality Association CEOs, 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, Feb. 18

• Webcast: OSHA Speaks: New Legal Guidance for a Safe Workplace, 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 24

• Webcast: The State of the U.S. Lodging Industry: CBRE's 2021 Outlook, 3 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Feb. 24

• Town Hall: AAHOA Town Hall at HMRSSS, 12 noon EST Wednesday, March 10

• Webcast: Inception to Completion: Creating a Well-Rounded Identity for Your Boutique Hotel, 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 16

Tourism Economics: Leisure & Hospitality Accounts for Whopping 39% of Jobs Lost to Pandemic

Almost four in 10 of all the U.S. jobs lost since February of last year are in the Leisure & Hospitality industry, according to analysis of the latest Department of Labor national jobs report – triple the number of the next-hardest-hit industry. The meager 49,000 jobs created by the U.S. economy in January were viewed by economists as a disappointment and a major sign of lingering pandemic-related stress in labor markets. But according to analysis created for the U.S. Travel Association by the research firm Tourism Economics, the real underlying story is the 61,000 jobs lost by the Leisure & Hospitality sector last month. The U.S. would have gained 110,000 jobs overall without the decline in Leisure & Hospitality jobs. 

An Update on the Vaccination of America 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week that nearly 33 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with about 10 million being fully vaccinated. The CDC releases daily updates on their COVID Data Tracker page. All states are currently administering vaccines to healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities, and some are progressing on to vaccinating teachers and other frontline workers

Updates from the SBA on the PPP

This week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released a report updating the data tracking the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since February of 2020, employment in the leisure and hospitality industry is down by 22.9%, representing the most adversely affected of any major economic segment. According to the SBA report, accommodation and food service sector businesses account for 18% of the total PPP loans administered.

AAHOA encourages all members to consult our PPP resource toolkit and contact their lenders regarding Second Draw loans from the program. AAHOA will be hosting an upcoming virtual event on this topic, “A Conversation on PPP Lending: What Hoteliers Need to Know,” set for 3 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Make plans to join if you have questions around the Second Draw program.

This Week's Developments from Washington, D.C.

Committees in the House of Representatives are expected to finalize the legislative text of President Biden’s $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan today. Yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that the House version of the relief package will contain the minimum wage hike, which still faces an uphill battle if passed to the Senate. 

Congressional Budget Office Releases Report on Raising the Minimum Wage  

The Congressional Budget Office reported on the economic impact of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, claiming that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021 would add $54 billion to the deficit over 10 years, lift 900,000 people out of poverty, and result in the loss of 1.4 million jobs. AAHOA will continue to keep members informed of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 and its impact on the industry.

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Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Inc.

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