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1. Signs Point to Continued Labor Crunch
As the hotel industry continues to feel the crunch of a labor shortage, those holding out hope that the end of expanded unemployment benefits might yield a rush or job seekers might be setting themselves up for disappointment. The Wall Street Journal reports the states that ended enhanced unemployment benefits early have seen "the same job growth as states that continued offering the pandemic-related extra aid."
"Economists generally agree the enhanced benefits caused some people to stay out of the labor market, but they also point to several other factors that have held back job growth this year, including family-care responsibilities, school closures, an imbalance of available jobs and worker location and skills, fear of COVID-19 and employee retirements," the newspaper reports.
Meanwhile, the competition for employees is likely to grow more intense as retail employers are expected to make a major hiring push in the lead up to the holiday shopping season. Reuters reported Walmart plans to hire 20,000 supply chain workers.
2. Hotel Execs Say Guests' Patience is Wearing Thin
Speaking at the 2021 Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit in Hollywood, Florida, hotel executives said owners' desires to cut costs and guests' unwillingness to accept a lesser product are pushing the industry to a tipping point, reports HNN's Robert McCune.
Alex Zozaya, chairman of all-inclusive resort-focused Apple Leisure Group, said that guest experience is not something hoteliers should be willing to sacrifice.
"What we sell is experience. The resort is what we sell. That is the product. As a result of that, we cannot afford not to have a swimming pool, or even the spa open or restaurants. ... How much the consumer is willing to put up with, for how long, also depends how much you charge," he said.
3. Google Pushes Back Return to Office
Executives at Google have announced plans to postpone the return-to-office date for workers until early January, citing COVID-19 concerns, CNBC reports.
“The road ahead may be a little longer and bumpier than we hoped, yet I remain optimistic that we will get through it together,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post Tuesday.
The company has repeated delayed its return-to-office date, with workers most recently slated to come back in mid-October. Employees at the company are also required to be vaccinated before returning to the office.
4. European Hotel Union Starts Own Booking App
A union for Spanish housekeepers — Las Kellys — has announced plans for a new booking app designed to highlight working conditions at properties for travelers, surpassing a 60,000 euros ($71,067) crowdfunding goal, The Guardian reports.
“We want to usher in a new era of tourism where people’s working conditions and their humanity are above economic interests,” Las Kellys' spokesperson Vania Arana told The Guardian.
The decision to build the app themselves came after unsuccessful efforts to have existing booking platforms like Booking.com and TripAdvisor show work conditions at properties.
5. Hotels Surpassed 2019 Profit Levels in July
Yet another sign of an exceptionally strong summer leisure travel season came with STR's latest profitability data: U.S. hotels surpassed 2019 gross operating profit levels in July. STR is CoStar's hospitality analytics firm.
For the month, the industry recorded gross operating profit per available room of $62.33, with total revenue per available room of $156.58. Those numbers were the highest seen since February 2020.