St. Louis Area Hotel Association

COVID-19 ALERTS

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS UPDATES AND

RESOURCES FOR SLAHA MEMBERS

SLAHA is bringing you the latest information as it relates to COVID-19 and your business. Please be sure to read the latest information you receive from brands. As the situation rapidly changes, information is being sent out often.

CONTENT FOUND IN THIS UPDATE

COVID-19: AHLA Hospitality Workforce Relief Proposal
CALL TO ACTION: HOTELSACT Action Alert
The latest from the CDC
AHLA Webinar: Potential Supply Chain Impacts of COVID-19
Send your questions directly to vboyer@stlhotels.com

COVID-19: AHLA HOSPITALITY WORKFORCE RELIEF PROPOSAL

Following yesterday’s meeting with President Trump, Vice President Pence and other Administration officials at the White House, AHLA delivered a Hospitality Workforce Relief Proposal to Congress. As you’ll see attached in the note from AHLA’s EVP of Government Affairs Brian Crawford, the request is in three parts:

Hospitality Workforce Relief Fund ($100 billion)
Provide Flexibility in Lending ($50 billion)
Access to Loans for Hotel Owners

With the Senate in session and the House likely to come back soon, your urgent outreach to your Senators and Representatives is appreciated. Please engage any connections with elected officials and their staff, and also use AHLA’s HotelsAct call to action for Congressional engagement. (link here: www.hotelsact.org)

CALL TO ACTION: HOTELSACT ACTION ALERT

The hotel industry is facing an abrupt and unprecedented drop in hotel demand that is gaining pace and getting progressively more severe each day that goes by. The human toll is equally devastating with major hotel managers already reporting significant layoffs and furloughs.

Congress can take urgent action to protect countless jobs, provide relief to our dedicated and hardworking employees, and ensure that our small business operators and franchise owners – who represent more than half of hotels in the country – can keep their doors open!

Click here to urge Congress to act now!

Now is the time to contact elected officials directly!

Tell your personal story.Explain what you are seeing at your company or property and emphasize the severity of what you are seeing both on the business side and the equally devastating human toll.
Convey the urgency.Ask Congress to take immediate action as hotels will be shutting down in days, not weeks.
Make the ask.The key priorities are:

Hospitality Workforce Relief Fund ($100 billion): Congress should provide grants to businesses for the purpose of employee retention and rehiring. The unemployment rate will dramatically increase in the next month unless Congress prevents millions of hotel workers from being furloughed or laid off. The fund would help employers meet their payroll obligations, slow the growth of rising unemployment numbers, and help keep employees on employer provided health insurance, lessening the impact on the Unemployment Insurance program.
Provide Flexibility in Lending ($50 billion): Congress must act to facilitate forbearance of principal and interest payments on debt during this health crisis, and make federal funds available to owners to cover such debt. Small business hotel owners that are facing severe economic circumstances who are able to have debt canceled should not be required to pay taxes on this Cancellation of Debt (COD) income.
Access to Loans for Hotel Owners: Congress must ensure that hotel owners have immediate access to capital to make their payroll and mortgage payments. Congress should establish a voluntary liquidity facility program to provide zero interest in secured/unsecured loans or zero interest secured/unsecured loan guarantees to hotel owners. Many hotel owners do not qualify for small business loans and for those who do, the lending process will take too long to provide meaningful relief.

AHLA has been working closely with Congress and the Administration to relay the unprecedented and devastating impact we are seeing throughout the industry during this difficult time. Thanks to the many members sharing personal stories on how the hotel industry has been impacted by COVID-19– our industry’s voice is being heard clearly by lawmakers that the time for action is now!

In coordination with the larger hospitality industry, AHLA has put forth a set of provisions that will help mitigate the widespread and continued economic loss and reduction in workforce opportunities caused by COVID-19.

We need your help as Congress begins to formulate an economic stimulus plan to ensure the hotel industry’s priorities are included so we can keep the doors open and our valuable workforce employed.

Click here to urge Congress to act now!

THE LATEST FROM THE CDC

The Latest CDC Recommendations on Groups and Mass Gatherings

According to the CDC, “Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities.”

RESOURCES AND GUIDES

SLAHA will continue to provide content, updates, and guidance as available here on our website

Downloadable CDC one page guide: How to protect yourself from COVID-19.

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA):

“Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19“

Through AHLA’s work with the CDC, they’ve cultivated a tailored listed of approved resources relevant to our industry:

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO VBOYER@STLHOTELS.COM

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