The American Hotel and Lodging Association estimates hotel leisure travel revenue is up 14% nationally and 19% in the DFW market over 2019."Right now, most of our hotels are only about 75% staffed back to where they were,” said Rob Hays, the president and CEO Ashford Hospitality Trust, a Dallas-based real estate investment trust with a focus in upscale, full-service hotels.
"We've seen the rise of the gig economy,” Hays said. “People taking their own careers into their own hands with technology. As well as companies like Amazon and others that are staffing large warehouses. So now, competition for labor is a little different than it was." To increase staffing hotels are offering hiring incentives like increased wages, flexible hours and expanded benefits.
Not enough immigrants?