Rich Maroko

Rich Maroko hopes Americans are finally ready to relax and visit New York City this summer now that the pandemic’s worst days appear to be behind it.

“The pandemic hit the hospitality industry harder than any other industry, and those effects have been really long-lasting,” Maroko said. “We’re moving in the right direction but not back to pre-pandemic levels.”

Hotels lost about $108 billion in business travel during the past two years, forcing tens of thousands of Maroko’s members to be furloughed. When federal supplements to unemployment  payments ran out last year, Maroko worked with Gov. Kathy Hochul to get a $450 million aid package that included $2,750 in direct disbursements to 36,000 underemployed hotel staffers. He also got the City Council to pass a severance law requiring hotels to open by Nov. 1 or pay their laid-off workers.

“On one hand it created incentive for hotels to reopen or it gave unemployed workers some cushion to pay rent and put food on the table,” Maroko said. “Several major hotels chose to reopen their doors and recall their workers.”

Maroko is encouraged that leisure travel is beginning to rebound this year, although business travel is expected to be off 55 percent from 2019. The rise of COVID variants stalled momentum last year, but Maroko is noticing that conferences have been returning to the city.

“The result of it is the recovery had been slower than I had hoped, but it is coming back,” Maroko said. “What everyone expects on returning this summer is the return of business travel.”

In the meantime, Maroko has focused on the long-term growth of the industry. He was part of a lobbying campaign to extend the number of downstate casino licenses, which could create thousands of jobs. And he backed plans at the city and state level that would allow underutilized hotels to be converted into housing.

“It would reduce layoffs and there will be less competition in the market that will force hotels to close,” Maroko said. “It would solve the problem of overbuilding of the hotel industry. You’ll see more thoughtful hotel development.”