WASHINGTON, DC— In light of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, John Russell, chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) told HOTEL BUSINESS® that he thinks “it’s going to be a tough time [for lodging], and this is something that affects all of the tourism and hospitality industries.” He predicted that the industry will be “hurt by this for awhile, but it’s not a knock-down blow. And by awhile, I mean for the next three to four months. But you never know what’s going to happen; we won’t know until [the U.S.]retaliates [what will really happen].” Russell told HOTEL BUSINESS® that now “we need to reach out to sister organizations and work with a coalition of associations because we’re still here. Our hotel business is one of the safest businesses out there. We need to work closely with sister associations and let the world and the U.S. know that we’re open for business. But as you know, much of our business is dependent on the airlines, and the airlines are off now by 20% to 30%, and it will be like that for a while.” But despite the crisis the attacks present for the industry, he believes “extended-stay will do well, roadside properties will do well. There’ll be more people traveling by car, train and bus.” To combat declines in travel, Russell said to look for “a lot of promotions… by the airlines, the car rental agencies, hotels. There’ll be a lot of unique and smart marketing being done.” “But what’s most important,” he said, “is that it’s time to pull together the whole travel sector. [The AH&LA] is really working with sister associations and forming as many strong coalitions as possible. We’ll also be using our CEO council to get ideas about what we should do too. [But] it’s premature to ask for relief from the government— [as the airlines have done]— because we don’t know if it’s going to be bad. And the government has too many other big issues to deal with right now.” Russell went on to say that its key to keep people abreast of whats going on, but, he said, even analysts are having a tough time predicting whats next for the industry since there isnt enough information out there on which to base any predictions. Given that, Russell said, “I’m not prepared to say that it’ll be bad. The next couple of weeks, couple of months will be tough, but in the long-term, we’ll be okay.”
John Russell