Hotel Association of NYC Launches "Stay NYC" Campaign to Deliver Relief for Tourism Industry

Since COVID Began, 100+ Hotels Have Closed Permanently – Industry Asking for Government Help

NEW YORK, NY (01/31/2022) (readMedia)-- On Monday, the Hotel Association of NYC (HANYC) launched the "Stay NYC" Campaign to call for government relief for the beleaguered city tourism industry. The association launched a website, TV ad and email ads in Politico and City & State.

The TV ad is available to view here.

"The hotel industry was arguably the hardest-hit by COVID-19, shuttering more than a hundred hotels permanently. Before Omicron, conservative estimates projected a full recovery for the hotel industry in 2025 – now, the future for hotels is even less certain," said Vijay Dandapani, President and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City. "The City must do everything it can to help hotels and the entire tourism industry get back on its feet, and we're hopeful the new Mayor and City Council will act to help hotels."

More than 100 New York hotels closed permanently during the pandemic, leaving tens-of-thousands of New Yorkers out of work. Before the pandemic, the hotel industry employed more than 50,000 people who are mostly immigrants and people of color, raised $3.2 billion a year in City tax revenue, and supported the $22 billion tourism industry.

HANYC released a report recently that shows the struggling industry faces a property tax burden that is double major U.S. markets. Property taxes ballooned to a 30 percent share of hotel revenue in 2020, from 9.4 percent in 2019. The report is available to view here.

Last year, Mayor de Blasio enacted the "Severance Law," an additional burden that requires shuttered hotels to pay severance beyond the hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars already paid out by the industry during the height of the pandemic. New Mayor Eric Adams indicated last year during his campaign that he is willing to offer help to the hotel industry, including tax breaks.

About HANYC

The Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) is the oldest hotel association in the United States and one of the oldest trade associations in the nation. The Association is an internationally recognized leader in New York City's $5 billion tourism industry and represents nearly 300 hotels, which, together, employ approximately 50,000 employees. The Association advocates on behalf of its members in a variety of legislative areas and sets standards for training, best practices and cooperative initiatives with key New York City stakeholders.