On Thursday, CEOs of major hotel brands including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriot, IHG, and Best Western as well as small, independently owned hotels submitted a letter calling on President Trump to provide the hotel industry with relief by tapping into funds from the Main Street Lending Program.
“The Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) was established to provide up to $600 billion in financing for our nation’s small and medium-sized businesses that were in sound financial condition prior to the pandemic. Unfortunately, there is broad recognition that the MSLP continues to be underutilized and prevents the hardest-hit businesses it was intended to support from accessing the program due to overly restrictive terms,” according to the letter, signed by more than 75 executives. “To date, only a small fraction of $600 billion in available loans have been utilized while the remaining funds—which are so desperately needed by industries like ours—sit idle and go unused.”
According to a recent AHLA survey of hotel owners, more than two-thirds of hotels report they will only be able to last six more months at current projected revenue and occupancy levels without further relief. Three out of every 10 hotel employees now furloughed or laid off.
The full text of the letter and its signatories can be viewed here.
