The coronavirus pandemic continues to hurt the hotel industry in Prince William County.
The county’s hotel occupancy spiked a bit in October but has fallen into a slump, exasperated by the lack of traveling this holiday season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Prince William County Economic Development Authority, hotel stays increased slightly in October 2020 as occupancy rates averaged 54.3%, up from 53% in the previous month. Over the holidays, however, hotel traffic slowed down. According to the same report from the Economic Development office, transient occupancy tax collections — a tax paid by hotel guests — are down nearly $300,000 in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the last quarter.
At the Country Inn and Suites by Raddison, near Potomac Mills mall, many rooms are currently empty.
but the small spike this fall is long gone, and he attributes it to the pandemic. “9/11 didn’t impact the travel industry as much as COVID,” said the hotel’s assistant general manager Dominick Ferrier, who noted that some area hotels had closed their doors due to this industry downfall.
Despite the pandemic overwhelmingly impacting the travel and tourism industry, the Prince William County Office of Tourism recently announced several new hotels have opened. Newly opened hotels include the LaQuinta Inn & Suites – Dulles Airport, at 7408 Centreville Road, near Manassas, and the TownePlace Suites, at 14090 Shoppers Best Way, near Potomac Mills mall in Woodbridge.
Two hotels are currently under construction in Gainesville District. Once completed, the county’s total hotel room inventory will reach nearly 5,000 rooms.
Business, leisure, and other visitors contributed over $692 million in spending power to Prince William County’s economy in 2019. The county reports that tourism is vital to its post-pandemic economic recovery plans.
Hotels in Prince William County aren’t alone with these vacancy rates. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, seven in 10 hoteliers (71%) said they wouldn’t make it another six months without further federal assistance given current. They projected travel demand, and 77% of hotels report they will be forced to lay off more workers.
Without further government assistance in the form of a second Paycheck Protection Program loan or the expansion of the Main Street Lending Program, nearly half (47%) of respondents indicated they would be forced to close hotels, the lodging association notes. More than one-third of hotels will face bankruptcy or be forced to sell by the end of 2020.
In early November 2020, occupancy rates were 44% compared to last year, when occupancy rates were 68% for the same week in November 2019. AHLA blames the resurgence of COVID-19 and renewed travel restrictions enacted in many states.
The numbers at AAA don’t paint a rosy picture for the hospitality industry either. AAA says automobile travel is down 24.9% for year-end holiday travelers, while air travel is down 59,9%, and other means of travel, including bus, train, and cruise ship travel is down 87%.
The Prince William County Government is looking at adjustments to counter the financial downfall. The transient occupancy tax generated by hotel stays and tourism is projected to be down $800,000. The county’s Parks, Recreation, and Tourism summer programs were not expected to generate user-fee revenues this year, either.
Early in 2020, the county projected a revenue budget surplus of $5.7 million for the remainder of the Fiscal Year 2020, according to Prince William County Executive Chris Martino, but the pandemic changed those figures.
At a board meeting in April 2020, Martino’s message was bleak. “In the last few weeks, things have changed dramatically. We will continue to monitor things and update you as we go along,” Martino told the Board. Instead of being on the plus side, the budget went the other way.
