Every few years, I joke that the Hotel News Now newsroom turns into the Hotel News Now Weather Center, as we track the effects of severe weather around the world and the impact these events have on travel and tourism.
Only it's not a joke at all. From fires to floods to hurricanes, tornadoes and typhoons, the rate at which these events are intensifying is alarming.
The hotel industry talks about cycles a lot — primarily how economic cycles influence consumer spending on travel, hotel transactions and hotel construction. Now, I feel like weather cycles increasingly will factor in to larger hotel economic cycles.
Take a look at the Caribbean, which is no stranger to hurricanes. Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck St. Thomas, USVI, particularly hard in 2017, and it takes years for the impact on hotel supply and inbound tourism numbers to normalize. That data doesn't even take into account the effect these weather events have on lives, infrastructure and healthcare.
Of course Florida knows this very well. Two years after Hurricane Ian, many parts of the Fort Myers Beach and Naples areas are still in recovery.
Turning back to this year's storm season: Hotel News Now's Sean McCracken spoke with Mark Kessler, president and chief operating officer of the Kessler Collection, specifically about the company's Grand Bohemian Asheville hotel, which was hit hard by flooding following Hurricane Helene.
"It's like, you see the pictures, and you're like 'OK, well, I get it,' but really when you're there and you feel it, you step out of your car and there's nobody there. There's nothing moving. It's a very eerie feeling," Kessler said.
That quote really stuck with me, and I hope you let that sink in.
There's nobody there. There's nothing moving.
That is devastation on so many levels.
It seems faintly ridiculous to talk about the impact of these weather events on tourism when the loss of life is still so recent. But it underscores that even though these communities will rally and support and rebuild, it takes a long time to do that. Such a long time.
Hurricane Milton struck Florida yesterday in another one of those "once-in-a-generation" weather episodes, and I'm already reading emails and LinkedIn posts about hotel closures and other hotels opening doors to evacuees.
This is a big deal. This is life, this is business, this is investment. This is knowing that if you get through, you are facing years of rebuilding, hours of headaches dealing with federal agencies and insurance agencies, battling with demolition and construction resources, the list goes on and on. It may take years for these markets to stabilize as tourism draws, which affects revenue of course, but also airlift, general travel demand and property value.
There are plenty of ways to donate financial assistance to agencies supporting people and businesses in ravaged areas. But what I'll ask you all as hoteliers to do is think about how you can share not only physical space and resources to people and hoteliers affected, but how you can share information and the burdens of rebuilding. Maybe that's a phone call or an email offering support. Maybe it's an offer to make a call, or advice on how you dealt with federal agencies in past situations. Maybe you have some temporary housing or jobs available.
Weather disasters are becoming like school shootings — they seem to be happening more frequently and with higher intensity than they used to, which unfortunately can make us callous to the news if it doesn't affect us personally.
This is when it's time to lean into hospitality.
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