has a steep climb to bounce back to its pre-pandemic glory days — with hotel business travel revenue expected to be 55% lower in the Big Apple market this year than in 2019, a sobering new industry analysis reveals.
Other urban hotel-tourism markets still suffering from the COVID-19 blues include Washington, DC, where business is projected to be 54% lower, Chicago 49%, Boston 47% and New Orleans 32% below 2019 levels.hotel business travel market as a whole is also a laggard, with revenue expected to be 46% lower than 2019.
“The good news is that after two years of virtual work arrangements, Americans recognize the unmatched value of face-to-face meetings and say they are ready to start getting back on the road for business travel.” But that figure plummeted 67% to 22.3 million visitors during the COVID-19 outbreak the following year, according to the state comptroller’s office.AHLA / Kalibri Labs
The number of hotel industry workers permanently employed has plummeted by 20,000, from 55,000 to 35,000, he said.In 2019, New York City hosted a record-breaking 66.6 million visitors.Pre-pandemic, tourism accounted for 7.2% of total private sector employment in the Big Apple and 4.5% of private-sector wages. Tourism indirectly supported 376,800 jobs in 2019, according to the comptroller’s office.