Group items tagged

THE LEISURE AND hospitality sector saw some job growth in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' December employment report. Not enough, however, according to the U.S. Travel Association, meaning more federal aid is needed. The sector added 53,000 jobs during the month, according to the BLS data. The overall economy added 199,000 jobs. "Leisure and hospitality has added 2.6 million jobs in 2021, but employment in the industry is down by 1.2 million, or 7.2 percent, since February 2020," the report said. "Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 43,000 in December but is down by 653,000 since February 2020." However, the report indicates that the recovery is uneven, said Tori Emerson Barnes, USTA's executive vice president of public affairs and policy, in a statement. December's performance was the second-worst since January 2021, she said. "The small gains made are not enough to propel the sector toward a larger recovery, as more than 7 percent of all L&H jobs remain lost compared to just 2 percent for the rest of the U.S. economy," Barnes said. "As the spread of the omicron variant continues to impact travel, there remains a pressing need for Congress to provide additional federal relief and stabilizing policies that will enable the return of business travel, professional meetings and events, and international inbound travel."

THE U.S. TRAVEL Association is urging Congress to implement short-term priorities to stimulate leisure and hospitality sector as 61 percent or nearly two-thirds, of all jobs still lost due to the pandemic are in this segment. The revised job data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the past several months confirmed that 10 percent of leisure and hospitality jobs now remain lost. "While the overall jobs report may be good news for some, the revised BLS data now confirms an even bigger revelation," said Tori Emerson Barnes, USTA executive vice president of public affairs and policy, in a statement. "The uneven recovery of the travel sector is due in large part to the lack of inbound international travelers, and the deep reduction in business travel and professional meetings and events. There could not be a more pressing time to support this vital contributor to the U.S. economy and rebuild American jobs."

THE U.S. ADDED 428,000 jobs in April, keeping the unemployment rate at 3.6 percent, just above the level two years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. However, the leisure and hospitality sector saw some of the slowest growth in job creation. After spiking to 14.7 percent in April 2020 following business closures across the country due to COVID-19, unemployment has declined steadily and is now just a hair above its 3.5 percent rate before the pandemic, the latest jobs report indicates. The number of unemployed people was at 5.9 million in April, not far from where it was in February 2020, new data showed.

U.S. HOSPITALITY SECTOR has consistently maintained the highest quit rates by workers among all industries, consistently exceeding 4.5 percent since July 2021, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. However, the leisure and hospitality sector maintained the highest hiring rate among all industries, fluctuating between 6 percent and nearly 19 percent. These industries saw a loss of 837 thousand workers in September, yet 1.1 million individuals were hired into the industry during the same month. This hiring rate exceeds the national average, which was 3.7 percent in September 2023, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in its latest report titled Understanding America's Labor Shortage: The Most Impacted Industries. The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals a positive influx of individuals into the workforce.

A BIPARTISAN SOLUTION to the federal immigration issue is needed to reduce the still ongoing labor shortage for hotels, according to a survey from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. To accomplish that, AHLA affiliate Hospitality is Working created the Workforce and Immigration Initiative that includes a targeted advertising campaign promoting immigration reform and border security. U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics put hotel employment down by more than 350,000 jobs compared to February 2020, AHLA said in a statement. Hotels are looking to fill many of the jobs lost during the pandemic, including more than 105,000 hotel jobs currently open across the nation. "Workforce shortages are severely impacting America's economy, notably the leisure and hospitality sector, which is facing historic worker shortfalls. This crisis has contributed to high levels of inflation and restricted economic growth. Americans everywhere are feeling the impacts of these difficulties. To address the extraordinary workforce shortages, Congress and the administration must come together and find bipartisan solutions that include incorporating more immigrants into the American economy," said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA. "The goal of the newly launched Workforce and Immigration Initiative is to highlight the historic opportunity to take action on this critical issue. Americans are demanding our that leaders in Washington put partisan politics aside and prioritize growing our economy and workforce, by developing an efficient and workable immigration system. The time to act is now."

In a cutthroat market, to keep going - every business needs to have a competitive edge over contenders. The scenario in the Hospitality and tourism sector is nothing different, where lot of players can be seen battling for customers and for the bigger market share. Unlike before, with too many Hotels around competing with each other, the customers have a lot on platter to choose from and almost everyone today has the tendency to select nothing but the best service providers in the market. Price was, has been and would always be a prime concern for customers. Earlier when the choices were limited (in terms of service providers), the customers had no option than going for whatever they used to get in the market at the FIXED price asked by the suppliers. However, with the change in market scenario and entry of new players (and the trend is continuing), the customers have the power and they are the ones that have the final say in everything. In such a scenario (in an exclusive buyer's market), it becomes imperative for Hotels (companies) to be flexible in/with their approach towards customers. Irrespective of income group or standard of living, every customer has concerns about pricing. Who does not like best deals in anything? The customers would always look for highest quality products/services that come with the best price tag. The Hotels that befit the requirement of customers with respect to quality and pricing have fair chance of winning them, at the first place. In order to price better and win customers to their business, the Hotels need to know what their competitors are doing and what their pricing or customer strategies are. Watching and following business rivals is very important, because if both (hotels) are offering similar quality services and if one has a better pricing then customers would go with that supplier where they are getting better deals. Hence, to avoid losing customers to business rivals, hotels need to stay ahead of competitors and t