More than two years have passed since the start of the pandemic, but the region is still feeling its effects on the workforce — particularly the tourism industry.

While some workers who were sent home or opted not to work during the height of the crisis have returned, there are more jobs available at hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions this season than employees to fill them.

Those businesses expect to struggle to provide top-notch customer service this summer because they’re short-staffed and, in the Outer Banks, in dire need of workforce housing.

As challenging as it may seem, the situation is better than last summer. Wages have increased, international workers are returning and employers are offering incentives.

“COVID-19 ushered the tourism industry into a workforce crisis,” said Victoria Cimino, CEO of Williamsburg’s regional tourism arm, Visit Williamsburg. “Today, businesses throughout the region struggle to rehire and fill positions, resulting in a new set of challenges to overcome.”

The Cheese Shop, owned and operated by the Power family in Williamsburg, has been a landmark destination on Duke of Gloucester Street since 2003. During the pandemic, however, the Powers have struggled to fill staff positions.

As of mid-May, The Cheese Shop had only added three workers this year — one full-time. Ideally, they would have hired 10 people, said Mary Ellen Power Rogers, who runs the family business with her siblings.

“We would be very happy to hire anyone for the summer, which is typically about three months,” she added. “We’d be happy to hire somebody for six months, or nine months, or 12 months. We’re very happy to hire anyone.”

With more than 11,800 tourism-related jobs in Dare County representing about one-third of the total year-round population, staffing for the summer season has never been easy. But two years of record tourism spending — about $1.4 billion each year — coupled with severe worker housing shortages has the Outer Banks at a breaking point.

Long-term rentals for the county’s tourism workforce have vanished almost entirely as new owners have turned them into more profitable vacation rentals. Displaced locals are living in their cars, in hotels and pleading on social media for spots to park RVs or for rooms for rent. Many others have been forced to move away.

“I moved because housing is nonexistent,” said Charlene Garrguies, who left the Outer Banks with her elderly mother late last year. “If you do find something, it’s impossible to qualify. You could buy a house, if there were any under half a million and local jobs paid enough.”

The most popular jobs on the Outer Banks come with housing, because of the high cost and short supply. In February, the Dare County Board of Commissioners hired a contractor to develop essential and workforce housing projects, using the $35 million in funding allocated to the county in the state budget last year. Coastal Affordable Housing plans to construct up to 400 housing units in Dare County by the end of 2023. Another contractor will develop units on Roanoke Island and in Nags Head.

In the greater Williamsburg area, occupancy rates already exceede those of 2019, according to statistics from Smith Travel Research, which provides market data on the hotel industry worldwide. In March, the region saw an occupancy rate of 45.6%, up from March 2019′s rate of 44%. It’s a positive sign, especially considering that group, business and international travel have yet to fully rebound.

With more travelers heading to beaches and other destinations, businesses will have to adjust to make up for staffing shortages.

At Dough Boy’s pizza shops on Virginia Beach’s Atlantic Avenue, customers now order at the counter instead of at their table, but servers check on them and clear dishes. Some Oceanfront hotels no longer offer daily cleaning services because they don’t have sufficient housekeeping staff.

“What our businesses are learning to do is make do,” said Michael Woodhead, an industry consultant for the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, which helps local businesses find qualified workers.

With any changes they make, businesses run the risk of turning off patrons. And with the cost of goods and labor higher than ever, customers are paying more for dinner or a hotel room.

“Consumers that have to pay these rates are expecting a certain level of service,” Woodhead said. “That is a threat to the tourism industry of Virginia Beach.”

Many businesses across the region have had no choice but to cut hours or days of operation.

In Williamsburg, The Cheese Shop now closes at 6 p.m. In the summer, it was open until 8 p.m.

“But we can’t do that when we don’t have enough staff,” Power Rogers said.

Debi Schaefer, executive director of the Williamsburg Area Restaurant Association, said she doesn’t see the hiring situation changing any time soon, but she’s not worried.

“Restauranteurs are resilient,” she said. “They know how to get creative.”

In Virginia Beach, staffing levels hovered at about 60% last summer. That number is projected to slightly increase, in part because international workers who couldn’t travel to the U.S. during the pandemic are returning.

“Staffing has gotten a lot better this year, but it’s still not where it needs to be,” said Martino DeStefano, general manager of the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

Higher wages are helping. Hotel housekeepers and restaurant line cooks can make as much as $15 to $18 hour this summer.

“Where we were suffering for a long time was food runners and bussers,” said Alyssa Airington, 19, a cocktail waitress at Catch 31 Fish House & Bar, inside the Hilton.

The restaurant is finally filling out its shifts with several new hires over the past couple of weeks.

“I won’t have to be working as hard as I did last summer,” said Hayden Means, 20, a busser and bar back who trains new employees. “Last summer, it was torture.”

Sign-on bonuses and other perks have become critical in a market where jobs are plentiful, say most employers.

The Virginia Beach City Council supported a $400,000 grant program through the Hampton Roads Workforce Council called Fund Your Fire, which provided businesses with money for employee incentives.

Workers at Catch 31 receive a bonus if they refer a friend who stays employed there for at least three months. In the Outer Banks, the Kill Devil Hills Dairy Queen is offering new employees iPhone12s.

“When you have good people, you want to keep them,” said DeStefano, at the Hilton. “You don’t want to lose them to go down the street to flip eggs for an extra dollar an hour.”

Stacy Parker, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com, 757-222-5125

Kari Pugh, kari.pugh@virginiamedia.com

Sian Wilkerson, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com, 757-342-6616