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The American Hotel & Lodging Association predicts the vacation may be back on Americans’ calendars later this year – especially if vaccines help suppress the Covid-19 pandemic – but business travel will not recover for some time .
Fifty-six percent of Americans say they are expected to travel for leisure in 2021, but 48 percent say their willingness to travel is in some way related to vaccinations, according to AHLA’s State of the Hotel Industry 2021 report released earlier this month “appears.
The results echo a recent ValuePenguin survey of 1,200 consumers that found 57% planned a vacation this year. 16% booked new vaccines right after the hearing.
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According to AHLA, 34% of travelers are satisfied with the idea of staying in a hotel. Improved cleaning and hygiene practices are now the second priority for consumers when booking hotels, after price.
In comparison, according to AHLA, business travel is not expected to return to 2019 levels by at least 2023 or 2024. Business travel will decline by 85% by April compared to 2019 and then only tick up very slowly.
Only 29% of frequent travelers who are still employed say that they are expected to travel to a conference in the first half of 2021. Another 36% think the second half of the year is more likely, and 20% don’t expect to travel until 2022 or later.
Half of all US hotel rooms are expected to remain vacant in 2021. The hotel industry has cut almost 4 million jobs compared to the same period last year, and the accommodation sector recorded an unemployment rate of 18.9% of the labor statistics in December, according to the Bureau.
“Covid-19 has wiped out 10-year growth in hotel jobs,” Chip Rogers, President and CEO of AHLA, said in a statement. “Despite the challenges facing the hotel industry, we are resilient.
“Hotels across the country are focused on creating an environment that is ready for guests when the trip returns,” he added.
The AHLA report consolidated the results of several surveys conducted in December and January. Morning Consult conducted the consumer survey of 2,200 adults from January 7th to 9th and the business traveler survey of 400 adults from January 7th to 12th. Ecolab conducted its consumer safety survey on December 10 of 556 adults.
