Trending
Devastating. Tragic. Imploded.
Those are words local hotel officials are using to describe the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their businesses.
"It has been devastating. The Altoona market was robust prior to COVID(-19). We have seen a 75 percent plummet in occupancy rates. For the first five months of the year, Altoona has a 30 percent occupancy rate, typically it is about 50 percent. State College has been worse than Altoona," said Edward Tubbs, chief operating officer of Hospitality Asset Management Co., which manages Courtyard by Marriott Altoona, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham and Wingate by Wyndham Altoona Downtown, and properties in the State College area.
"It has been tragic. I am shocked all of the hotels are still open. In May alone, we lost $70,000 in revenue compared to last year," sad Jennifer Hartman, general manager of Days Inn & Suites, Altoona.
The hotel industry has imploded, said Heather Macharola, general manager of Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Altoona.
"Most are barely surviving. There has been no business travel or leisure travel. The only people in hotels in our area were essential workers," Macharola said. "We usually have occupancy between 50 and 100 percent, it has been between zero and 30 percent."
All facilities have had to lay off workers.
"Layoffs among hotel workers was incredible -- 50 to 75 percent of our staff. Whoever was left had to take on three or four positions," Macharola said. "We are considered essential because we provide housing."
"We had to make some staff adjustments," Tubbs said. "That was a very difficult process to go through. We assisted our associates to find their way onto the unemployment sites. That was difficult."
Local facilities made many changes as a result of the pandemic.
"Our IHG hotels have high cleanliness standards to begin with," Macharola said. "We've stepped up our game to meet every regulation with signage and social distancing to make sure our guests and our staff are safe."
Macharola said their priority is their guests and employees.
"We used to have daily service. Now it may be every five days," she said. "We don't want our employees going into rooms. We are cutting down contact. Our services aren't the same. We don't want them exposed."
Employees are wearing masks and gloves.
"We are exposed to people from many areas," Macharola said. "We have to be on red alert all of the time and will be that way for some time. We have no paper products in the rooms; all surfaces are disinfected. We have no breakfast bar or buffet. It is all prepackaged food and safely provided so there is no danger to our guests and staff."
"We used to serve a full, hot breakfast, but we had to change that," Hartman said. "If you are here for more than one night, we can't do room service. You would have to come to the front desk for extra towels; you would set out your trash."
As most area counties have moved into the green phase, business is starting to trickle back.
"With each restriction lifting, we see a small percentage of people coming back," Macharola said. "There are less people working at home. They are not coming from everywhere yet."
Macharola saidbusiness travel is starting to increase and they are seeing more leisure travel now that people are allowed to leave their houses.
"We are finally starting to see an uptick as areas are starting to go into the green zone," Tubbs said, adding that they have been able to bring back some of our employees. "We are pessimistically optimistic that they will continue to improve."
Tubbs said they realize what happens in State College impacts Altoona, taking the lead from Penn State's University Park campus, which is starting to bring students back, he said.
"That will continue the upward trend of bringing business back to both communities," Tubbs said.
However, many people are still hesitant to travel.
In a recent study conducted by Longwoods International, 79 percent of respondents felt some degree of hesitation in traveling outside of their respective communities, said Executive Director Mark Ickes of Explore Altoona.
"Travel sentiment released on June 2 indicated among one survey group of individuals, 23 percent anticipated pursuing a domestic leisure getaway trip within the next three months," Ickes said. "According to the majority of industry experts, the negative impact of the economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will be 10 times that of Sept. 11."
"There is still a lot of fear from people who do not want to leave their homes yet. People are not ready to be exposed to amusement parks or sporting events," Macharola said.
Hotel officials know that recovery will not be easy.
"It will be hard for hotels to recover," Macharola said. "It will take a year or two to recover from our losses. The impact has been tremendous. It will take a long time to build up again. It will be a long road of recovery for the entire industry."
"Not this year," Hartman said. "We are on the outskirts of Altoona; a lot of our business is from people going to State College or DelGrosso's Park. If Penn State football is canceled, I am sure there are some who will not survive."
Ickes believes Blair County is positioned for a recovery.
"Our destination is not known for overwhelmingly large crowds and we are known to have excellent outdoor spaces and recreation," he said. "Both factors could potentially lead to a perception of our area being more appropriately socially distant."
Ickes said most travel experts are sharing that through various visitor surveys, respondents are not necessarily going to be in search of over-the-top, exhilarating adventures, but rather calm, quiet experiences with family, friends and traveling companions.
"Almost an opportunity to relax, veg out and escape their own version of reality," he said. "Our brand determination of classic, authentic family fun full of value and variety will continue to have strong potential among these visitors."
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.