TYLER, Texas — The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant impact on hotels in East Texas. In an industry that relies heavily on seasonal travel, the drop in traffic was sudden and significant.
Tyler-area hotels saw a 44% drop in traffic in April. That number rebounded to a 9% drop in June and a 13% drop in July. In August, area hotels had just a 1% drop in traffic.
Shari Lee, president of Visit Tyler, says hotels had to adapt quickly to keep business in a world where few people were leaving home.
"We saw all of our hotels come out with staycation packages. They were heavily discounted family-friendly [packages], and discounted hotel rooms with extra activities that families can do," Lee said.
Top of mind for many guests are the new protocols hotels are taking to keep guests healthy. "It gives the guests the feeling that they're safe because they're visually seeing cleaning being done, they're seeing masks being worn and social distancing at the desk," she said.
With more people working remotely, business changes led to technology improvements at hotels as well. "Any large event center has to think very clearly about how are they going to handle these hybrid meetings that are taking place now," Lee said.
As we come out of the pandemic, the hotel industry has a new way of doing business with an even greater focus on the customer's individual needs.