By Greg Hazley
Only 37 percent of hotels in the Gulf Coast region say they have recovered financially from the effects of last April’s BP oil spill, according to a survey conducted in early April by hospitality research firm The Knowland Group.
Source: The Knowland Group |
Seventy-one percent of the hotels surveyed across Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas said group sales were affected by the spill while 72% said some form of hotel business was lost following the disaster. One-third saying they lost "a lot" of business because of the disaster and fewer than half said group bookings have returned to pre-spill levels.
TKG said surveys conducted last year in May and June after the spill showed hoteliers reported cancellations steadily increased throughout those two months. The end of June showed an upswing, but only because cleanup crews were taking rooms.
Several hoteliers told the research firm that the disaster has sparked contingency planning, as 20 percent said they now have a plan in place and 21% are working on one.
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