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Updated: October 23, 2022 @ 10:10 am
Hotel staff jobs are generally available across the board when tourism activity increases.
Some hotels are seeing much higher occupancy on average this year.
Although business travel is lagging behind, leisure travel has boomed in 2022.
Hotel staff jobs are generally available across the board when tourism activity increases.
Some hotels are seeing much higher occupancy on average this year.
Although business travel is lagging behind, leisure travel has boomed in 2022.
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — According to a report from the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), hotel leisure travel revenue is projected to be up 14% over pre-pandemic levels nationwide by the end of the year.
The AHLA’s report points out that the uptick in revenue is leading to historic career opportunities for hotel employees, with more than 115,000 hotel jobs open across the nation.
“The hotel industry continues its march toward recovery, but we still have a way to go before we fully get there,” said AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers in a press release. “That’s why AHLA remains focused on working with members, lawmakers and stakeholders in markets that are rebounding more slowly to ensure the full return of meetings, conferences and group travel, in addition to leisure and business travel.
“At the same time, we are continuing to grow the industry’s talent pipeline by highlighting the unprecedented career opportunities hotels are offering. Thanks to higher wages, better benefits and more flexibility and opportunities for advancement, there has never been a better time to work at a hotel.”
Business travel is just 1% shy of 2019 numbers on average in most markets, according to AHLA’s report.
Among the top 50 U.S. markets, 80% are projected to see hotel leisure travel revenue exceed 2019 levels, but just 40% are expected reach that milestone for business travel revenue.
Tourism in North Central West Virginia is getting its share of this resurgence, according to industry experts.
NCWV leisure travel has increased to at least pre-pandemic levels, with a huge improvement from the past couple years, especially with fairs and festivals returning.
“At the Clarksburg Visitors Bureau, we’ve noticed an increase in visitors from out of state. We’ve had visitors as far as China, Arizona, Minnesota,” said Tina Yoke, executive director of the CVB, noting that history, architecture, outdoor recreation and food, especially Italian cuisine, are the biggest attractions.
“When we got to April of this year,” said Susan Riddle, director of Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors Bureau in Morgantown, “we finally started to achieve the volume that we had in 2019 for the same month. We are not where we were in 2019 year to date, but by the time we get to April of 2023, we will have probably exceeded where we were in 2019.”
Riddle noted that although most places in North Central West Virginia are not necessarily vacation destinations, there are plenty of things that keep travelers coming back.
“Our leisure travel is usually from people visiting friends and family as well as outdoor recreation. Also, there’s a lot of sports travel here that sometimes rolls over to leisure travel,” Riddle said.
“They’re either driving through here and stop or they have a connection with the area that brings them back and we know that once people come to Mountaineer Country, they’re usually coming back to get some more the majority of the time,” Riddle said.
With a surge in tourism, the area’s hotels are seeing great success with most of them “consistently doing pretty well,” according to Chrissy Richards, executive director of the Lewis County CVB.
Lisa Sutton, director of sales for Hilton Garden Inn in Clarksburg, noted that their hotel is averaging 20 more guests per night compared to last year.
“Business has definitely increased. For example, this time last year our occupancy was between 67% and 69% on average. This year, it’s been about 82%. … We’re a 112-room hotel, so when you add about 20 more guests to the hotel every night, then we need more employees to help service them,” Sutton said.
“We are on par with pre-pandemic occupancy. By this time last year, we were headed in the right direction, but even from last year, we’ve seen a dramatic bounce back. It’s been steady throughout 2022 and we have a lot of things already booked and planned for 2023,” Sutton said.
As Sutton noted, higher demand means more hospitality jobs are available in housekeeping and restaurant or banquet staff in particular.
“The job prospects are numerous. The job industry has not really rebounded, but you can go anywhere and there are help wanted signs and signing bonuses, whether it’s lodging, restaurants, even retail,” Riddle said.
“Statewide, there is a large demand for people in the hospitality industry all over the state,” Yoke said.
West Virginia’s tourism industry has shown recent success as a major economic driver even while other areas of the economy have been questionable at best.
“We’re really moving in a positive direction. I don’t know of any other sector of the West Virginia economy that has seen year-over-year growth like this. The rest of the economy actually contracted by over 70%, but West Virginia increased 4%,” Riddle said.
“There’s a 20-21% spread between what the rest of the country has been doing and what we’re doing, so the future is bright for tourism. We are a major economic driver and we’re finally being recognized as such, which is exciting,” Riddle said.
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