Hotels in Charlotte struggling to staff up amid post-pandemic travel rebound
Raleigh-based Concord Hospitality Enterprises expects to open a Hilton Homewood Suites in uptown Charlotte in early August. The project, announced five years ago, was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It turns out that, in many ways, the timing couldn’t have been better.
The hospitality industry is returning to the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019. Occupancy in metro Charlotte hit 64% in May, according to hospitality research firm STR Inc. And the average daily room rate is at $128. That compares to the pandemic-impacted 2020 average of 41% occupancy, including 10% in March of that year, and an average daily room rate of $90.
But that success comes at a cost, which Concord is seeing daily as it staffs up for the Homewood Suites’ debut in First Ward.
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It takes a lot of people to run a 13-story, 211-room hotel. Leaders in hotel management companies say filling positions in housekeeping, reception, security and maintenance is a constant battle. With Mecklenburg County unemployment at a historic low of 3.3%, the demand for hospitality workers has never been tighter.
The squeeze is pushing hospitality firms like Concord to invest more attention, creativity and money than ever in the hiring, training and retention of staff.
“We do everything from job fairs to social media to recruitment in churches,” said Kevin McAteer, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Concord, which manages more than 130 hotels in 24 states under brands including Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental and Marriott. “It’s everybody from the CEO all the way down to people who’ve just started working with us.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects hospitality and leisure — hotels, restaurants, bars and other entertainment businesses — will be the nation’s fastest-growing sector from 2021 to 2031.
Read more here about how Concord and other local hotel operators are meeting the challenges of hiring.
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