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Caesars Entertainment announced a master plan to invest $400 million in its three casino resorts in Atlantic City by 2023, reports Linda Moss for CoStar News. The first phase includes a $170 million update for room suite upgrades at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City that will debut this summer.

"Building on our rich, 40-year legacy in the market, we are excited to introduce the new Caesars Entertainment to Atlantic City through our $400 million investment and development plan," said Anthony Carano, president and chief operating officer of Caesars Entertainment in a statement. “We remain bullish on Atlantic City, and this commitment will further position us for long-term growth and success."

U.S. President Joe Biden said 200 million Americans have received vaccination against COVID-19 a week ahead of his 100-day goal, NPR reports. To further encourage vaccinations, he announced the availability of tax credits for employers who offer paid time off to employees to receive their shots.

"No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they are doing their patriotic duty to get vaccinated," Biden said.

The Biden administration is encouraging employers to provide incentives to employees to get vaccinated, the article states. The administration said about a quarter of Americans who were not planning to receive one of the vaccines said they would if they had paid leave, gift cards, cash bonuses or some other type of incentive.

Hotel executives said they are happy to see more guests coming into their hotels, but labor continues to be an ongoing issue, reports HNN’s Danielle Hess.

"I think the biggest issue on the road to recovery right now is the labor pressures where our operators are having to make revenue decisions not only based on a given night's demand, but also based on an analysis of how long it will take to turn the rooms based on staffing shortfalls," said Julie Richter, chief financial officer at Concord Hospitality Enterprises.

Executives spoke on the Americas Lodging Investment Summit "Recovery Top of Mind" webinar.

U.S. hotels reported that occupancy fell by 2.6 percentage points for the week ending April 17 compared to the week before, according to data from STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm. Occupancy settled at 57.3% while average daily rate amounted to $107.16 and revenue per available room achieved $61.37.

“Following the end of spring break, weekly demand fell back below the 22 million mark, and occupancy dipped to its lowest level since mid-March,” the release states. “The ADR level was also $5 less after two straight weeks above $112.”

U.S. Department of Labor data shows that initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell 39,000 to 547,000 last week, the lowest level since the start of the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reports. Claims remain higher than before the pandemic, as the weekly average in 2019 was about 218,000.

“As people feel more comfortable with face-to-face, close-contact behavior, we’ll see people spending in those services and we’ll see those industries rebounding,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. “That will bring more jobs and higher incomes, and that in turn is going to support consumer spending as well.”