Statewide Iowa — A new survey finds Iowa’s hotels lost nearly ten-thousand jobs during the pandemic and almost two-thousand of those jobs have yet to return.
Jenn Clark Fugolo, spokeswoman for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, says it’s a challenge the industry is facing not just in Iowa, but nationwide.
In addition to the lost jobs, the survey says Iowa’s hotels also lost 420-million dollars in room revenue alone during the pandemic. Fugolo says hotel owners in Iowa are striving to lure new workers to the industry.
While hotel employees often get deeply discounted rooms when they vacation, she says another benefit of working in the industry is the ease of upward mobility.
Not only are there positions open like front desk and housekeeping, but she says there are opportunities in other areas, including in maintenance, sales and event planning. The association says Iowa has more than 700 hotel properties representing more than 51-thousand rooms and employing more than 65-thousand people across the state.
