Dear Colleagues and friends and fellow New Yorkers,

It has been a year that defies any attempt at adequately characterizing the heart-rending economic, social and personal losses we have seen across communities in the great city and state. Your chair, Joanne,  has noted how others have submitted war stories and, sadly, there is no better metaphor than that to describe how my industry (hotels) has practically been bombed out of existence.

While this extreme predicament we all find ourselves in is a direct consequence of the most vicious pandemic we have faced in our lifetime, its impact on the 55,000+ hotel employees and the tens of thousands of others in ancillary jobs that depend on the hotel industry for their survival has been devastating. Revenues have been down by over 90% and employment at barely 10,000. The rush of good news with regard to vaccines is unfortunately going to do very little for the next year as business travel including conferences and conventions are often times years in the making.  

In the midst of all the awful news my organization, HANYC and many of its members reached out well beyond their neighborhoods and places of work to come to the help of needy New Yorkers, in particular those afflicted with the virus. From providing complimentary hotel rooms to health care workers to working with the City of New York on placing people from homeless shelters who are unable to live in socially distanced settings in hotels the industry, they contributed  in every possible way to try and make a difference. Personally, I visited Flushing, Elmhurst and Mount Sinai hospitals at the height of the pandemic to donate much needed PPE donated by grateful owners for the benefit of medical workers.  The response of folks at the front line, in each instance, was immeasurably gratifying to me and my team.

So, what about the long run one may ask. While Keynes noted that in the long run we will all be dead, it does look promising for the hospitality industry for those that survive the next two years. The human need for travel remains unremittingly strong as evidenced by jurisdictions that reopened (some perhaps a tad too prematurely)  for travel and tourism in Europe. Croatia for example, saw business at levels similar to or greater than last year. While there have been plenty of predictions pointing to Zoom and other virtual tools upending business travel permanently it is unclear if prognostications about sunshine while deep in a trench can have true predictive value. 

As we near the end of the year and the annual holidays I would like to extend the warmest greetings for the very best in the coming year and wish health, happiness and prosperity to all.

 

Vijay Dandapani

President & CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City