The American Hotel and Lodging Association [AHLA] is anticipating hotel-generated state and local tax revenue to hit $46.71 billion nationwide by the end of the year. AHLA projects the national hotel occupancy rate to hit 63.8%, just shy of 2019’s 65.9%. Labor shortages are still expected as hotels struggle to return to pre-pandemic employment.
More occupants mean more alcohol. How can hotels meet the demand of their growing consumer base without having enough employees? By automating manual processes with technology that frees up time to focus on the customer experience.
Which States Are Expected to See the Highest Growth in Revenue?
AHLA designated Florida, California, Texas, Nevada, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, and Maryland as the top ten leaders in hotel-generated state and local tax revenue from 2019 to 2023. You can see a breakdown of their projections below.
Occupancy rates haven’t quite hit the same mark as in 2019. But they are steadily on the rise and close to it. AHLA expects Hawaii, California, Alaska, Florida, the District of Columbia, Arizona, New York, Washington, Colorado, and Massachusetts as the ten states with the highest occupancy rates of the year.
Staffing Issues Creating Headaches
The pandemic hit the hospitality industry hard, particularly in hotels. There is a rush to fill the jobs lost during the pandemic as hotels begin to see occupancy creep back to pre-pandemic levels. A January 2023 AHLA survey of hoteliers revealed that 79% of respondents indicated staffing shortages at their property – 22% of which were considered “severe.”
Many hotels now offer higher wages, increased benefits, and other incentives to increase employment. AHLA is also looking to Congress to enact bipartisan solutions to address legal immigration to help address workforce shortages.
Despite this, there is an immediate demand for employees that the current economy is not meeting. Hotels must look to alternative options for staffing that create efficiencies elsewhere. One of these alternative solutions is incorporating solutions like Fintech to help with their alcohol invoice payment processing and management.
Using Fintech’s PaymentSource® to Lighten the Load
Customer experience is the heart of the hospitality industry. When customers come to hotels, they expect a certain level of service and ambiance. A lot of this happens at hotel bars and restaurants and staff must be able to help foster a positive customer experience without being bogged down by manual back-office processes.
One way to help with this is by incorporating Fintech’s PaymentSource, which automates alcohol invoice payments and provides seamless data integrations. Whether you manage one hotel or multiple, PaymentSource handles the busy work of alcohol invoice processing and gives you time to focus on taking care of your customers. Hotel managers can rest assured knowing their back-office tasks are handled by an automated solution that never calls in sick or goes on vacation.
PaymentSource eliminates human error associated with manual invoice field data entry. With GL coding, hotel managers can easily view digital copies of their invoices by line item. You can also identify margin-building opportunities by monitoring cost changes with inventory, tracking money lost on costly orders, and requesting credits from your distributors if there are issues with deliveries.
Add Fintech to Your Hotel Today
With the hotel industry experiencing a revitalization, managers need every advantage they can get to save time and resources to create a positive customer experience. AHLA’s projected revenue spike leaves a small window to find solutions. However, Fintech starts working hard for you from day one and will drive consistent ROI while saving valuable time.
Request a demo today to see how Fintech simplifies alcohol payments and management.
