When COVID-19 began its sweep across the U.S. in early March 2020, travel, including both domestic and international, came to a grinding halt. In March 2020, airlines in the U.S. saw a 51 percent drop in service passengers compared to the same month in 2019. Travel restrictions and lockdowns soon followed. The 2020 summer season saw dismal numbers of travelers compared to year’s past.
Even as travel began rebounding in 2021, it took until December of last year for air travel numbers to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. While many people are eager to travel for leisure again, the travel industry is still facing a number of COVID-related challenges. From supply chain issues to an ongoing labor shortage, businesses need to continue to adapt to combat the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus.
A hospitality management company can help.
At Vibrant Management, we specialize in helping boutique hotel and vacation rental properties and other tourism industry businesses create customized strategies for success. Keep reading to learn more about how we can help you deal with the continuing impact of COVID-19.
The Continuing Impact of COVID-19 on the Tourism Industry
Despite high vaccination rates, COVID-19 numbers continue to rise and fall around the world. But while this has led to some lockdowns and new travel restrictions, traveler numbers continue to rise.
This is great for hotels, motels, vacation rentals, and other businesses in the travel industry. However, other challenges are now affecting those same businesses. Developing strategies for addressing these new challenges is important if you want your property or other business to succeed.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the challenges the pandemic caused that continue to plague the tourism industry.
Enhanced Cleaning Procedures are the Norm
Cleaning and sanitation have always been an important part of the tourism industry. Proper cleaning procedures helped lead to good reviews, created repeat visitors, and aided hotels and vacation rentals in avoiding outbreaks of illness. However, housekeeping has long been something that happened in the background. The pandemic changed that.
Now, guests not only demand increased cleaning and sanitation but also expect to see it in action.
Ongoing Labor Shortages Challenge Businesses in Every Industry
Perhaps you’ve decided to increase your staff to keep up with a new procedure for cleaning and sanitizing. You’ll quickly experience another challenge brought about by COVID-19; the labor shortage.
At the outbreak of the pandemic, the U.S. saw a massive jump in the number of unemployed workers, while the number of available job openings plummeted. Now, the number of positions available has continued to rise, while the number of unemployed workers has dropped. In January of 2022, there were more than 11.3 million unfilled jobs and just 6.3 million unemployed workers.
Navigating the labor shortage isn’t easy. Your business will need a multi-part plan for attracting new job applicants, maintaining your current workforce, and automating tasks where possible to decrease the need for additional work hours.
Supply Chain Issues May Make Stocking a Challenge
Supply chain issues are another major pandemic side effect that continues to affect businesses across every industry. The tourism industry is no exception. From food to cleaning supplies, having a plan in place to source necessary stock is important if you want to continue to deliver a great experience to your guests.
How a Hospitality Management Company Can Help
Dealing with these and other challenges brought about by the pandemic, as well as standing out from the crowd as the number of travelers hitting the road continues to increase, is a must for hotels and vacation rental properties.
A hospitality management company can help your business face these challenges head-on and prepare for new and evolving challenges in the future. From developing a hotel marketing strategy that helps your property stand out to revamping your cleaning measures, attracting new applicants to your team, and otherwise managing your business’s day-to-day operations, we do it all.
See How Vibrant Management Has Helped Other Businesses Succeed
Whether you operate a boutique hotel or own a portfolio of vacation rental properties, having a strategy in place to combat the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 is a must. Whether you need help developing a more effective hotel marketing strategy or your management needs a complete overhaul, we can help.
Vibrant Management is a boutique hospitality management company that specializes in helping unique properties deliver stellar experiences to their guests while developing strategies for future success.
Ready to see for yourself how we can help your business succeed now and in the future? Check out some of our properties to see how we’ve helped them find their niche, reach new guests, and develop a plan for future success!