'Facing a catastrophe': Hotel industry, suppliers seek $250 billion bailout package due to coronavirus - USA TODAY

Chris Woodyard USA TODAY

Published 6:23 AM EDT Mar 18, 2020

The hotel industry is seeking a total of $250 billion in bailouts for owners, employees and suppliers, saying devastated room bookings due to the coronavirus are resulting in closures and mass layoffs.

Hotel executives said they detailed the devastation that the travel pullback is having on their industry in a meeting Tuesday with the Trump administration.

The industry is hoping for $150 billion to allow hotel owners to continue to make their loan payments and to support employees who are being laid off. Another $100 billion would go to suppliers, from recreation providers to retailers.

The contraction in travel due to the coronavirus "already has had a more severe impact on the hotel industry than 9/11 and the 2008 recession combined," said Chip Rogers, CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association in a call with reporters.

Hotel occupancy has fallen below 20% in many cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, Austin and Boston, he said. Hotels are being forced to close and lay off their staff. Public health officials have advised people not to travel or gather in groups so they don't spread the virus.

Many corporations have ordered employees not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and major conferences and trade shows have been canceled or postponed.

"Our 33,000 small business hotels across the country are facing the difficult decision right now to close their doors and lay off millions of people over the next several days," Rogers said. "Not weeks. Not months. But days."

President Donald Trump, who made his fortune in real estate and hotels, has repeatedly sounded sympathetic to a bailout for the travel industry, citing cruise ship operators and airlines in particular. Airlines are hoping for a $50-billion relief package, the Associated Press reported.

"We are facing a catastrophe that needs to be fixed," said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, who was also on the call. He said 83% of the travel industry is small businesses. "Right now, it's important to keep these people working, keep these businesses operating."

The economy is tied to the success of hotels, Dow said, because it's where "deals are done, products are sold."

As an example of how fast the industry has crumbled, the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, which operates 54 hotels aimed at business travelers in major cities, has already had to lay off half of its staff of 8,000 workers, said CEO Jon Bortz. By the end of the month, another 2,000 will be be idled.

"We are looking at closing the doors to half our properties," Bortz said.

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