The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2019, brought the hotel & travel industry to a halt. According to an AHLA report, almost 65% of hotels remained below 50% capacity during the peak of the health crisis. That, according to the same report, is below the threshold which allows hotels to break-even and pay debt. This resulted in mass layoffs and furloughing of employees in 9 out of 10 hotels. With many travel restrictions that were in place during the peak of the travel season, only 33% of Americans took vacations as compared to 70% in previous years during the same time.
