Hotel Industry Says It Will Struggle To Get By Even With Government Help
Less than a month ago, Mitch Patel's hotel business was booming. His company, Vision Hospitality Group, owns 37 hotels in six states and it had seen record business in January and February, according to Patel. Things were going so well, he was planning to open two more hotels this year, and seven next year.
Washington, DC (CNN) - Less than a month ago, Mitch Patel's hotel business was booming.
His company, Vision Hospitality Group, owns 37 hotels in six states and it had seen record business in January and February, according to Patel. Things were going so well, he was planning to open two more hotels this year, and seven next year.
But then, in early March, Patel met with executives from Marriott, the brand many of his hotels operate under, to discuss business. China came up. The hotel business there had plummeted amid the coronavirus outbreak.
"We were saying 'that is awful,' and 'thank God that that's not the situation -- or what we expect -- in this country,'" Patel recalled. "And then Friday the 13th came."
"That was the Friday when President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in the fight against the coronavirus, which had already been designated a pandemic by the World Health Organization."