Major US hotel CEOs call on Trump for relief

The CEOs of major hotel brands including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriot, IHG and Best Western as well as small, independently owned hotels published a letter calling on President Trump to provide the hotel industry with desperately needed relief by utilizing funds from the Main Street Lending Program.

Only a small fraction of the $600 billion available through the program has been utilized. While remaining funds sit idle and go unused, the hotel industry is on the brink of collapse. According to a recent 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. With three out of every 10 hotel employees now furloughed or laid off, this could help save millions of hotel supported jobs and many hotels avoid closure.

October 15, 2020

The Honorable Donald J. Trump President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Trump:

The undersigned executives represent the breadth and depth of the lodging industry in the United States, which supported 8.3 million jobs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and generated more than $660 billion towards the U.S. GDP. We are writing today to respectfully urge you to take immediate action to provide an injection of liquidity for industries hardest hit by this pandemic, including ours, by fully utilizing the Federal Reserve’s 13(3) emergency lending authority. This can be accomplished by establishing an asset- based lending facility or by replacing the rigid EBITDA leverage test with a loan-to-value ratio test.

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. 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.

This health and economic crisis has wreaked havoc on hotels in our industry, of which 60 percent operate as small businesses and nearly 50 percent are minority owned. Three out of every 10 hotel employees are now furloughed or laid off and more than two-thirds of hotels report that they will only be able to last six more months at current projected revenue and occupancy levels absent any further relief. As a result of COVID-19, the accommodations sector is now left with an unemployment rate of 30 percent compared to the national average of 7.9 percent.

Mr. President, we believe you have the power to call for immediate modifications to the MSLP to  increase participation and help thousands of businesses that have been crippled by the pandemic through no fault of their own. We strongly urge you to use your executive authority to direct the Treasury to encourage the Federal Reserve to amend and expand the Main Street Lending Program. Your engagement is desperately needed to support struggling businesses, stem the impending wave of foreclosures, and save millions of jobs to ensure the health of the entire American economy.

Respectfully,

Heather McCrory
Accor, North & Central America
 
David Kong
Best Western Hotels & Resorts
 
Patrick Pacious
Choice Hotels International
 
Robert Palleschi
G6 Hospitality, LLC
 
Chris Nassetta
Hilton

Mark Hoplamazian
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
 
Elie Maalouf
InterContinental Hotels Group
 
Jonathan Tisch
Loews Hotels & Co
 
Arne Sorenson
Marriott International
 
Peter Strebel
Omni Hotels and Resorts

James Alderman
Radisson Hotel Group
 
John Russell
RLH Corporation
 
Geoff Ballotti
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts

Dave Johnson
Aimbridge Hospitality
 
Monty Bennett
Ashford Inc
 
Daniel Abernethy
Atrium Hospitality
 
H P Rama
Auro Hotels
 
Mark Carrier
B. F. Saul Company Hospitality Group
 
Al Patel
Baywood Hotels
 
Alex Cabanas
Benchmark Global Hospitality
 
Joe Berger
BRE Hotels
 
Robert Kline
Chartres Lodging Group
 
Jeffrey Fisher
Chatham Lodging Trust
 
Charles Lathem
Clarion Partners, LLC
 
Mark Laport Concord Hospitality Enterprises Company
 
Keith Cline
CorePoint Lodging, Inc.
 
Michael George
Crescent Hotels & Resorts
 
John Belden
Davidson Hotels & Resorts
 
Brooke Barrett
Denihan Hospitality
 
Thomas Penny
Donohoe Hospitality Services
 
Paul Kirwin
Global Hospitality Services

Jay Shah
Hersha Hotels and Resorts
 
Steve Barick
Highgate Hotels
 
Michael Depatie
KHP
 
Mike DeFrino Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants
 
Mehul Patel
Newcrestimage
 
Mit Shah
Noble Investment Group
 
Corry Oakes
OTO Development
 
Jeff Wagoner
Outrigger Hospitality Group
 
Tarun Patel
Pacific Hospitality Company
 
Jon Bortz
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust
 
Keith Overton Pioneering Resorts & Restaurants
 
Joseph Bojanowski
PM Hotel Group
 
Lindsey Ueberroth
Preferred Hotels & Resorts
 
Ben Erwin
PSAV
 
Bob Rauch
RAR Hospitality
 
Ben Seidel
Real Hospitality Group
 
James Merkel
Rockbridge
 
Colin Reed
Ryman Hospitality Properties

Walter Isenberg
Sage Hospitality Group
 
Prem Devadas
Salamander Hotels & Resorts
 
Jeffrey Brown
Schahet Hotels
 
Barry Sternlicht
Starwood Capital Group
 
Navin Dimond
Stonebridge Companies
 
Amanda Hite
STR
 
David Hogin
Strategic Hotels & Resorts
 
Daniel Hansen
Summit Hotel Properties
 
Thomas Klein
TAK Hospitality
 
Thomas Corcoran
TCOR Hotel Partners
 
Terri Haack
Terranea Resort
 
Robert Boykin
The Boykin Group
 
Jack Damioli
The Broadmoor
 
Steve Bartolin
The Broadmoor/Sea Island Co.
 
Douglas Dreher
The Hotel Group
 
Leland Pillsbury
TLG Investment Partners
 
Rick Takach
Vesta Hospitality
 
Len Wolman
Waterford Hotel Group
 
Michael Medzigian
Watermark Lodging Trust, Inc.

Majid Mangalji
Westmont Hospitality Group
 
Bruce White
White Lodging Services
 
Chip Rogers
American Hotel & Lodging Association
 
Cecil Staton
Asian American Hotel Owners Association

Lynn Mohrfeld
California Hotel & Lodging Association
 
Michael Jacobson
Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association
 
Kenneth Fearn
Integrated Capital, NABHOOD Chair

Lynette Montoya
Latino Hotel Association
 
John Longstreet Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association
 
Eric Terry
Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association

CC:        Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary, U.S. Department of Treasury
            Jerome H. Powell, Chair, Board of Governors of the Federal