AAHOA Vice Chairman Biran Patel joined other industry professionals to examine the impact of COVID-19 during the “Marcus & Millichap Hospitality Investment Outlook” webcast on Wednesday. Patel and the expert panel took an in-depth look at what the hospitality industry recovery will look like, which hospitality segments offer opportunity, the transactional and financing climate, and more. Watch now.

If COVID has taught us anything, it's to prepare when we can and control what we can control. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a worse-than-usual hurricane season this year. Forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center predict a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season, with three to six major hurricanes (winds of 111+ mph) likely. That's where AAHOA comes in. On our Disaster Preparedness webpage, we have state-by-state information you can rely on to help you protect your family, yourself, and your business. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30.

As economies — and hotels — around the nation begin the slow process of reopening after surviving one of the most challenging times in the history of our industry, AAHOA’s Industry Partners are reaching out to help however they can. Many are offering deals and discounts, promotions, and resources hoteliers should know about to get back on their feet. Check out our Exclusive Deals page to learn more about the members-only deals available from AAHOA’s Industry Partners.

COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our businesses and our communities in many ways. It’s also making our communities even more vulnerable to the harms of human trafficking. While the many effects of COVID-19 on our communities are unavoidable, preventing human trafficking in our vulnerable communities is not. To help members join the fight to eradicate this scourge, AAHOA offers Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) Inhospitable to Human Trafficking Training Sponsored by AAHOA. This on-demand, fully digital training is completely FREE to all AAHOA Members and your employees. As we all navigate through this pandemic, there has never been a better time to complete this brief yet highly impactful training. The training is completely digital and free. Use this time of social distancing to earn your certificate.

Check Facebook regularly to see our members exemplifying what it means to be #AAHOASTRONG! 

In the coming weeks, AAHOA is hosting a number of virtual events around the country. The virtual event series is designed to help hotel owners remain connected with AAHOA Officers, board members, staff, and each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. Make plans to join us for this and other upcoming virtual events. You also can visit the virtual events archive to view past recordings in their entirety.

AAHOA is pleased to announce that we've notched our 100th webcast in our COVID-19 series. When the pandemic struck and began to decimate the hospitality industry, AAHOA leapt into action with the "Hotel Owners & COVID-19" webcast series to help our members determine how best to protect their businesses and their livelihoods. When the nation began to move toward recovery, AAHOA also shifted gears with our “Hotel Owners & Conquering COVID” webcast series. As of May 28, we have educated more than 13,000 attendees on how to survive and recover from COVID-19. Check out the entire library of 100+ webcasts here. 

In the wake of the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, AAHOA is bringing you a series of webcasts that will keep you informed and help determine next steps for your business. We have educated more than 13,000 hoteliers to date and feature more than 100 webcasts separated by category in our library. AAHOA is making these webcasts available to the industry, so be sure to share with those in your network, whether they're an AAHOA Member or not. 

 

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey reports, “Economy (-34.4%) was the relatively strongest chain scale for branded hotels; Upper Upscale was the weakest at -87.2%. Upscale (-75.1%) underperformed the industry average; Upper Midscale (-65.2%) outperformed. Overall results were "less bad" in our view, especially sequentially vs. the week ending 5/16. We assume there was some pent-up leisure weekend demand for Memorial Day as U.S. residents, especially those in states that have been stricter with following health guidelines, have largely been house-bound for months. At the same time, we are gradually starting to see more hotels reopen although many urban hotels remain closed due to the lack of material corporate demand, virtually zero group/convention demand, and limited air travel. As we have discussed before, the hotels likely outperforming are "drive to" leisure. Especially for Memorial Day weekend and given the kind of destinations benefiting from demand, we assume lower-rated hotels in rural and beach destinations are outperforming big city markets.”

 

As North America’s leading hospitality procurement services provider, Avendra offers AAHOA Members competitive pricing from its 800+ supplier contracts. Earn huge savings on engineering, rooms operations, administrative, replacement FF&E, and more! Visit www.avendra.com or call 866-AVENDRA and start saving today!

Available in more than 50 countries, Rheem’s water heating product line innovates advanced technology and all-new ways to deliver just the right temperature while saving energy and water, and supporting a more sustainable future. This year, Rheem launched an initiative called "A Greater Degree of Good," which includes aggressive goals to re-imagine its products and global manufacturing operations to reduce its environmental footprint. For more info on Rheem’s sustainability initiative and cutting-edge water heating solutions, visit www.rheem.com.

HotStats is a unique profit-and-loss benchmarking service for hoteliers, enabling AAHOA Members to find out monthly how your hotel stacks up against the competition. The platform provides in excess of 500 key performance indicators across multiple areas of hotel revenue, cost, and profit in a database that currently totals close to two million hotel rooms worldwide. Contact David Eisen, director of Hotel Intelligence and Customer Solutions, or visit the HotStats website today.

Health and safety concerns are starting to ease, according to Deloitte's Global State of the Consumer Tracker. While the financial strain from the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, there are good signals coming for the hotel industry. Thirty-one percent of travelers plan to stay in a hotel within the next three months, up from 24 percent in April. This is a sure sign things are beginning to look up for the industry.

The phrase "social distancing" means the hotel industry will have to rethink every approach to a guest's hotel stay. From ensuring guests stay a safe distance apart in lines to redesigning the layouts of places where guests normally gather together, hotels will need to have practices and guidelines in place as we enter the new normal of hospitality. 

Business interruption insurance is in place to protect your business during times like what we're experiencing now with COVID-19. However, some insuance providers have indicated they are unlinkely to approve these claims. Fortunately, there are steps hoteliers can take to ensure they receive the insurance they've paid for, like asking an experienced insurance claim attorney to examine your policy.