COVID-19 has hurt the hotel industry in many different ways.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the leisure and hospitality sector has lost 4.8 million jobs since February, 2020. This is the worst economic impact the industry has ever faced.

Hotels like the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Luxe on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and the InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa in French Polynesia shut down in 2020 because of Covid.

Hotels across the country are recovering from a two-year period where they lost $111.8 billion in room revenue alone, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA).  A partial recovery in 2022 will not be enough to allow hotels to completely pay back or rehire staff, the report says.

The hotel industry will continue to improve, but full recovery is still several years away, according to AHLA: “Even with the return to pre-pandemic travel, rooms, revenue, and performances do not account for the additional estimated more than $48 billion in the pre-pandemic spending on food and beverage…and other ancillary services.”

Hotels made adjustments in 2021, ensuring the highest levels of cleanliness and taking sanitation very seriously. People also started to do mobile check in to save time and limit the spread of Covid.