Hotel rooms across the country are empty as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the tourism industry.
More than three-quarters of all hotel rooms across the United States are now vacant, according to research group STR. The occupancy rate for last week was just 22.6%, a precipitous drop from the 67.5% occupancy rate for the week last year.
The 22.6% rate also shows a decline from the 30.3% occupancy rate from the week of March 15. The week prior to that, the country’s hotels had a 53% occupancy rate. Hawaii, a popular tourist destination, saw the biggest fall in occupancy, with just 10.5% of rooms filled compared to 86.4% from this time last year.
Other room rental businesses have also taken a hit.
Airbnb, which allows individuals to rent out rooms or residences for any given period of time, announced Monday that it would provide each host 25% of the business they lost to coronavirus cancellations and set aside $250 million to do so.
“We couldn’t have guests and hosts feel pressured to put themselves into unsafe situations and create an additional public health hazard,” CEO Brian Chesky said. “Please know this decision was not a business decision but based on protecting public health.”
The company also vowed to give subsidized or free housing to 100,000 healthcare workers in order to allow them to move closer to the hospital where they are working.
