COMMENTARY: Hotel industry prepared to keep customers safe

The hotel industry has a plan to safely revive business travel in Nevada.

With the start of June marking Nevada’s official reopening, tourists are increasingly returning to destinations such as Las Vegas, signaling the beginning of our road to recovery. On June 1, Las Vegas officially reopened to 100 percent capacity in hotels, casinos, bars and restaurants, with mask wearing recommended only for those not vaccinated.

Nevada’s economy relies heavily on the tourism industry. In 2019, more than 42 million people visited Las Vegas, and occupancy rates in August 2019 hit nearly 96 percent. Fast forward to August 2020: Las Vegas saw a nearly 60 percent drop in visitors compared with 2019 levels.

Over Memorial Day, AAA estimated more than 37 million people traveled. While that number is still down more than 60 percent from pre-COVID times, it marks a significant milestone showing consumers are ready to leave their homes and travel once again.

After a year of record-low occupancy rates, this is welcome news for travelers and the tourism industry alike. However, while an increase in summer leisure travel shows promise for the industry, it is not enough to account for the major economic losses felt by the state over the past 15 months.

The rebound in summer leisure travel will begin the road to recovery, but the hotel industry and its workforce will continue to face challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic until business travel resumes.

While cities such as Las Vegas welcome hundreds of thousands of leisure travelers each year, the city’s hotel industry also relies heavily on revenue from events, conventions and group meetings. In fact, it’s the largest source of revenue for the industry and a major source of employment.

Business travel, which decreased by 85 percent from pre-pandemic levels, is not expected to reach full recovery until 2024, while some major events, conventions and business meetings have been canceled or postponed until at least 2022.

As more and more Americans continue to be vaccinated, the hotel industry remains committed to the health and safety of hotel employees and guests as we enter a new stage on the road to recovery.

At the start of the pandemic, the American Hotel and Lodging Association united the hotel industry around “Safe Stay,” an industry-wide initiative dedicated to “enhanced hotel cleaning practices, social interactions and workplace protocols to meet the new health and safety challenges and expectations presented by COVID-19.”

By constantly evolving to meet the demands of the public health crisis, Safe Stay helped keep employees and guests safe throughout the pandemic. Now, as we start to see meetings and events slowly resume, the association has equipped hotels with new operating guidance and checklists to ensure that the next business meeting or wedding you attend will be safe.

As a medical professional with expertise in infectious diseases and biological threats, I can confidently speak to the hotel industry’s relentless commitment to the safety of hotel employees and guests.

With approximately half of U.S. adults now fully vaccinated, a return to normality is on the horizon. But, we still have a long road ahead before Nevada’s hotel industry fully recovers to pre-pandemic levels.

As the industry prepares for an increase in travel this summer, travelers should rest assured that the hotel industry will continue to keep travelers safe as we enter the next phase of recovery.

Retired Rear Adm. Louis Tripoli, M.D., is the national spokesperson for the American Hotel and Lodging Association on COVID-19 safety.