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U.S. HOTELS ADDED 700 jobs in May, highlighting persistent workforce shortages, with 191,500 vacancies since early 2020, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. However, a survey by AHLA of hoteliers in May found 76 percent of respondents are experiencing a staffing shortage and 13 percent reported they are severely understaffed, meaning the shortage is affecting their hotel's ability to operate. By comparison, in a January survey, 67 percent said they were experiencing a staffing shortage, and 72 percent said they were unable to fill open positions. Total hotel employment is now approximately 1.92 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is still 191,500 short of pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, highlighting the ongoing struggle to find workers.

THE STATE OF the U.S. hotel industry is strong going into 2024, according to American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2024 State of the Hotel Industry report. Average hotel occupancy is expected to reach nearly 63.6 percent in 2024, a slight increase from the 62.9 percent in 2023 but below the 65.8 percent rate recorded in 2019. Nominal RevPAR is also anticipated to rise to $101.82 in 2024, up by 4 percent from 2023 and over 17 percent from 2019. AHLA projects hotels will pay employees a record sum of over $123 billion in wages, salaries, and compensation in 2024, surpassing $118 billion in 2023 and $102 billion in 2019. Hotels are expected to add approximately 45,000 employees this year, while the industry's workforce remains nearly 225,000 below the almost 2.37 million employed in 2019, the AHLA report said. The report, projecting persistent challenges for hoteliers in the face of nationwide labor shortages as they approach 2019 occupancy levels, draws on data and analysis from Oxford Economics. It was developed in collaboration with AHLA Premier Partners: STR, Avendra, Ecolab, Encore, JLL, Oracle, and Towne Park.

THE DEPARTMENT OF Homeland Security will issue more than 64,000 additional H-2B visas for fiscal year 2024, surpassing a congressionally authorized discretionary cap for the second consecutive year. The American Hotel & Lodging Association, AAHOA and others have been lobbying for the increase as a step to relieving the labor shortage challenge in the hotel industry. A forthcoming interim final rule, which was announced on Friday, will additionally approve temporary work visas, bringing the total to over 130,000 including those issued under the regular annual cap of 66,000. Chip Rogers, AHLA president and CEO, commended the federal government's action. "The H-2B Workforce Coalition, which AHLA co-chairs, worked hard to convince the Biden administration to offer this considerable expansion, which nearly doubles the yearly allocation of H-2B visas," said Rogers. "These extra visas will be crucial to helping hotels and resorts in remote vacation destinations fill seasonal roles, and we thank Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas for making them available. But we still need help from Congress to get hoteliers across the country all the employees they need. That includes establishing an H-2B returning worker exemption, passing the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, and passing the H-2 Improvements to Relieve Employers (HIRE) Act."

THE U.S. TRAVEL Association led a delegation of 11 travel industry leaders to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves on March 8 to discuss promoting safe business and professional travel to help recovery post COVID-19. Travel leaders also demanded additional H-2B, J-1 and other temporary work visas available to meet seasonal workforce During the roundtable, Graves voiced his support for the travel industry, saying the Commerce Department will bring "all tools to the table" to help overcome obstacles that remain to the normal resumption of business travel, a statement said. They discussed the reentry of urban office workers and its correlation to the restart of business travel as well as opportunities to attract global meetings, conventions and exhibitions to the country.