As we head toward a new year, with travel having reestablished itself amid continuing uncertainty and the lingering presence of COVID-19, the hotel industry can look back at the past 18-plus months and reflect on the challenges.

Some of the challenges are new; some represent the continuation or amplification of issues we faced before the pandemic. Yet, with every challenge comes an opportunity. Savvy hoteliers will identify where they lie and capitalize on them. Those that do will stay ahead of the curve and make changes that will position them to succeed in what is no doubt a new world for our industry.

As we work through some of the aftermath, here are a few things hoteliers can think about in the months and years ahead.

While the labor shortage in hospitality has been a building problem for the past decade, the issue definitely was intensified by the pandemic.

Many industries are dealing with fallout from “The Great Resignation,” but hospitality nears the top of the list. In August alone, 892,000 hospitality workers left their jobs, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers in the industry quit their jobs in August at a record rate of 6.8%, more than twice the national average rate of 2.9%. In fact, in a recent survey by Joblist, 58% of hospitality workers said they were planning to quit their jobs before the end of 2021.

The labor shortage isn’t solely due to a rise in unemployment compensation in the U.S. It can also be attributed to people opting out or aging out of the workforce. According to Trading Economics, the United States places 46th out of 86 countries for labor-force participation, at 61.6% as of September 2021. That’s likely to get worse as baby boomers age out and the workforce isn’t replenished quickly enough.

However, there are ways hoteliers can navigate the labor shortage and even turn the situation into a positive. Examples include:

• Cross-training: Training employees across multiple roles can lead to better flexibility and allows hotels to run leaner — which is especially important when it’s not always possible to fill every open job.
  
• Automation/tech solutions: Like many industries, hospitality has been moving to automation out of necessity. Tools such as digital check-in, kiosks and mobile keys will become more prevalent. Smart hoteliers will learn to balance automation with human connection — this is still a people industry, after all.
  
• Design shifts and structural updates: Hotel brand leaders are thinking hard about prototypes to determine what is best for lean and quick operations. For example, placing a laundry facility a hallway away from the front desk is a big no. The laundry room needs to go behind the front desk so that the team member working the desk can also do the laundry during his or her downtime. As hotels are staffing fewer housekeepers due to the labor shortage, guest rooms may need to be reconfigured for quicker and more efficient cleaning. For hotels with kitchens, that could mean nixing high, difficult-to-reach cabinets or saying goodbye to drawers that constantly break.

A few decades ago, staying at a hotel was a novelty. Maybe your TV at home didn’t have premium cable channels, so going to a hotel was a treat because you got something you didn’t have at home. Now, the paradigm has shifted. Homes are much more comfortable than a hotel room.

The pandemic highlighted the desire for guests to really feel at home when they travel. In fact, the hotel industry has been striving to provide a “home away from home” for years, especially as disruptors such as Airbnb entered the game. The question now becomes: How do you truly create an at-home experience at a hotel — one that can future-proof your property?

Many economy hotels have a handle on addressing the challenge. According to STR (CoStar's hospitality analytics firm), hotel occupancy in the U.S. plummeted 33.3% in 2020. The economy segment experienced only about half the decline, with occupancy falling 17.5%. By year-to-date August 2021, occupancy for economy hotels in the U.S. was up 21.3%. Additionally, economy hotels reached 2019 revenue per available room levels by around April of this year. By comparison, the overall U.S. hotel industry didn’t reach 2019 RevPAR levels until the summer.

Much credit for the economy segment’s stability goes to amenities and how they differentiate the in-room guest experience from a traditional transient hotel. Some economy hotels, for example, offer features such as kitchens with cooktops and full refrigerators with freezers, or a better TV experience with a full lineup of channels and a place to plug in a gaming console. The experience is centered on all the comforts guests would have in their homes.

During the pandemic, these hotels provided safe retreats for doctors and nurses who stayed with us after a long shift. We were an extension — and a more convenient location — than home. Or maybe the truck driver who still had to deliver food to the grocery stores who didn’t feel comfortable staying at home. In short, economy hoteliers did a great job of pivoting their business to adapt, often making decisions by the minute.

Adapting in the moment is the key to success in an ever-changing landscape — and the pandemic taught us that the world can change overnight. While hoteliers may not always be prepared, they can adapt and implement those lessons as they move forward. It’s the first step in future-proofing a business.

Adaptability will continue to be the key to innovation even beyond the pandemic. In some cases, the pandemic taught the industry how not to adapt if hotels want to compete, including:

• Lowering rates: During the pandemic, people were traveling out of necessity, not booking based on rate. Lowering rates would not spur demand. Hotels simply needed to provide a clean room, not a cheap rate.
  
• Amenity one-upping: Some hoteliers began offering more amenities as a way to one-up the competition. That is simply counterproductive.

The lessons learned? Think about the why behind everything you do. Consider other ways to adapt. At the end of the day, we’re here to sell hotel rooms.

The pandemic taught us to not overly complicate things, to take a step back and return to the basics — and sometimes that’s the best solution.

George Limbert is the president of Red Roof, an economy hotel chain with more than 660 properties in the United States, Brazil and Japan George joined Red Roof in 2013 as the company’s in-house counsel.

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concern.

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