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1. Real ID Deadline Extended for US Air Travelers
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that Americans will have two more years to complete the process to obtain a Real ID driver's license or identification card, The Washington Post reports.
Beginning May 3, 2023, all U.S. air travelers must present the credential before boarding a domestic flight. The previous deadline was scheduled for this October, but motor vehicle departments needed more time for processing due to being closed or having reduced staff during the pandemic.
Currently, less than 50% of Americans who hold a license and state identification card have one that's Real ID-compliant.
U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes said in a statement that extending the Real ID deadline is the right move.
"Getting to Real ID compliance on time was already going to be a challenge before COVID shut down DMVs for extended periods," she said. "Significant travel disruption was likely if the deadline were allowed to hit, which the U.S. economy can’t afford after a $500 billion decline in travel spending last year and millions of travel jobs lost to the pandemic.”
2. New York Mayor Pushes Plan To Restrict Hotel Development
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city leaders are "pushing a controversial plan to drastically restrict hotel development," which many fear would jeopardize the city's recovery from the pandemic and cost billions in lost tax revenue, The New York Times reports.
The new plan would require City Council approval before any new hotel is developed, because hotels draw in more traffic and activity than other buildings. De Blasio said the plan would benefit both organized labor and local residents.
A confidential budget office report shared with the newspaper states this move could leave New York with insufficient hotel capacity, costing $350 million by 2025 and up to $7 billion by 2035 in lost taxes.
“We flag that to continue with this proposal could be seen as contrary to economic recovery principles and sound planning,” Marisa Lago, the director of the planning department, wrote last year in the memo to City Hall.
Council is expected to approve the plan before de Blasio leaves office this year.
3. Group Demand Returns at US Hotels
Group demand at U.S. hotels dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic by as much as 94% in year-over-year comparison with April 2020, according to data from CoStar's hospitality analytics firm STR. But while group demand remains down overall, social groups represent an early piece of the recovery in that segment for U.S. hotels, HNN's Bryan Wroten reports.
Prism Hotels & Resorts has had robust demand from youth sports programs, said Allison Handy, senior vice president of sales, marketing and revenue management.
“Teams that might have only played a few tournaments a year in the past are packing a tournament schedule to make sure that their players get exposure and get development to make up for lost time,” she said.
4. More Women Left Hospitality Jobs Than Men, Study Shows
The latest annual Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership report by the nonprofit Castell Project shows that 11% of people in its data set left their company from year-end 2019 to year-end 2020.
Among that group, 12% of women and 10% of men left their jobs in hospitality. Furthermore, 27% of this sample found employment within the hospitality industry — with a higher proportion of men than women gaining reemployment.
"The full impact of the pandemic is larger than reflected in these statistics because of furloughs and delays in showing change on company websites and LinkedIn. We expect these numbers to increase during 2021," the report states.
5. 'Skip-Gen' Vacations Become More Popular
The trend of grandparents traveling with grandkids without the children's parents — also called gramping or skip-gen travel — is growing in popularity as grandparents were among the first group to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19, USA Today reports.
Hotel bookings by older Americans, using AARP discounts and other senior rates, are on the rise in the U.S.
Wide-open spaces continue to be prime locations for travel, "and a visit to a national park in spring or summer could fit the bill. Hiking, stargazing, wildlife viewing and sharing the restorative power of nature with the grandkids doesn't have to mean roughing it," the newspaper reports, adding national park lodges combine scenery with upscale comfort.