The normally busy holiday season into the New Year for Central Florida hotels just wrapped up, but this coronavirus pandemic is proving it is going to take time for the industry to bounce back.
What You Need To Know
- Central Florida’s large resorts saw a significant decrease in occupancy
- Many hotels are doing special events, deals to drum up business
- One resort came up with creative ways to handle the pandemic
Keri Burns, the regional director of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, tells Spectrum News 13, most hotels usually strive for 95% capacity on a regular week and are sold out during the holidays.
This go around, there were some successes, but others are still taking a big hit.
Burns said for most of the larger resorts in the Central Florida area, occupancy was down about 70% compared to the 2019 holiday season.
Most hotels are doing special events and deals to gain business.
Limited service hotels, which have below 200 rooms, did see some success with about 75% to 82% occupancy.
"The hoteliers that I spoke to were optimistic that even back in the summer that the holidays would be okay, they knew they would not see the numbers they saw in 2019, they knew that wasn't going to happen. But, the numbers were actually lower than they anticipated for the holidays," Burns said.
Westgate Lakes Resort in Orlando, which offers timeshares and rentals, implemented multiple safety changes at the beginning of the pandemic, which now includes touchless drive-thru check-in, socially distanced activities, and virtual cooking classes with resort chefs.
Westgate Chief Operating Officer Mark Waltrip said their mixed-use resort was a draw over the holidays.
"Over Christmas holidays, all of our resorts here in Central Florida were in the high 80% occupancy range," Waltrip said.
He said with aggressive safety measures for staff and guest safety, the community has responded well.
Waltrip is confident the industry will recover, after going through other very tough times like 9/11 and the economic recession.
"This industry, particularly the timeshare industry, has come back even stronger than ever because we're in the most amazing destination in the world, Central Florida," Waltrip said.
With the coronavirus vaccine now out and slowly becoming more available, the association expects a boost in the hotel business in the fall season of 2021.
Full recovery might not happen until next year and beyond.
To learn more about Westgate's safety procedures, visit westgatecares.com.
The Link LonkJanuary 30, 2021 at 12:58AM
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