Hotel CEOs Concede a Lasting Labor Shortage May Reshape Guest Experience

The chief executives of the world’s largest hotel companies recognize they have a labor shortage problem that isn’t going away anytime soon. 

The hotel industry, with nearly triple the unemployment rate of the U.S. national average, grappled with staffing issues even before the pandemic. But the health crisis sent room demand into a nosedive and drove companies of all sizes to reduce staffing levels to a minimum last year with furloughs and permanent layoffs. 

That decision continues to wreak havoc on the industry, even as demand pushes occupancy rates higher and higher. 

“The baggage we carry as a result of laying off so many people in the pandemic … That is a hard one to overcome,” David Kong, CEO of BWH Hotel Group, which owns Best Western, said Monday at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. “People always feel like you’re going to abandon them in a crisis and there’s no safety net.”

Kong was joined by IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Keith Barr, Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin, Marriott Interntional CEO Anthony Capuano, and Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta on a panel that discussed a variety of issues facing the hotel industry amid the pandemic recovery.

While the hotel industry saw a boost in hiring