ORLANDO, Fla. — The long-term impacts of COVID-19 are being felt in Central Florida’s hotel industry with occupancy rates hovering around 30%, the worst in the continental US.
“Orlando is facing probably the worst situation because it is a convention center town and it relies on the large amusement parks to draw people to the city, so it is suffering in a way that is worse than most,” says Chip Rogers of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
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“The business travel that does exist right now is not necessarily your white collar convention travel, those large events that sustain the hotels near the convention center,” says Rogers.
Labor Day traditionally marks the end of the summer travel season when hotels rely on business travel and conventions to sustain them through the fall and winter, however, that business has not returned.
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“Business travel just is not back,” says Orlando resident David Buckalew, owner of Buckalew Hospitality. “Conventions and trade shows are absolutely gone and we have nothing on the books until at least January.”