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1. Thousands More Flights Canceled
At the busiest time of the year for air travel, thousands of flights have been canceled over the past several days due to rising COVID-19 cases, CNN reports.
On Tuesday alone, at least 2,800 flights were canceled — more than 1,000 within, into or out of the U.S. — and more than 8,000 flights were delayed. Airline staff and crew calling off sick is at least partly behind the cancellations and delays, CNN reports.
"The nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," said a United memo obtained by CNN.
2. Cruises Keep Sailing Amid COVID-19 Outbreaks
At least 86 cruise ships carrying passengers in U.S. waters have reported COVID cases onboard — the most since the cruise industry emerged from a 15-month shutdown, the Washington Post reports.
Despite the surge in cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to allow a Conditional Sailing Order to expire on Jan. 15, at which time pandemic-era restrictions will become recommendations, the newspaper reports.
“CDC acknowledges that it is not possible for cruising to be a zero-risk activity,” the agency said in a statement this week. “The chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is high because the virus spreads easily between people in close quarters aboard ships.”
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal tweeted Tuesday a call for the CDC to again shut down cruises in light of the outbreaks.
“Cruises are repeating recent history as petri dishes of COVID infection,” he said.
3. Hotel Revenue Strategies Shift
During the COVID-19 era, hotel demand patterns have become increasingly unpredictable, forcing hotel revenue experts to adapt strategies for bringing in business, HNN's Dana Miller reports.
"The strategy for revenue management has been turned upside down. A lot of us have gone back to the basics [of] looking at what kind of demand is out there," Dury Kim, vice president of revenue strategy at Ocean City, Maryland-based Real Hospitality Group, said.
For more on hotel revenue management strategies for 2022, click here.
4. As Hotel Occupancy Recovers, So Does Hotel Employment
A CoStar analysis of hotel employment in southern U.S. markets shows hotel occupancy is a leading indicator for hotel industry employment.
For example, hotel markets in San Antonio and Tampa, Florida, reported occupancy within two percentage points of 2019 levels, and employment within 5% of pre-pandemic levels in November, CoStar's Chelsea McCready reports.
One exception to this trend is Austin, Texas, where the employment recovery is outpacing that of occupancy — with staffing down by 6% to 2019 and occupancy down by 8%.
5. NYC's Landmark Excelsior Hotel Sold to Residential Rental Developer
A century-old landmark on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the Excelsior Hotel appears to have ended its era as a hotel. The hotel has been closed during the pandemic, and now has been sold for nearly $80 million to a developer that specializes in converting buildings to residential rentals, The New York Post reports.
"Despite being closed, the 133,000 square-foot hotel with 215 rooms has a city property tax bill of $1.3 million — with half of that due Jan. 1," the Post reports. "And because the Excelsior failed to reopen by Nov. 1, a new city law called for the former owner, Harry Krakowski, to pay severance of $500 per week for 26 weeks for each of his employees."