The American Hotel & Lodging Association has released an economic analysis of the U.S. hotel and lodging sector that documents the industry’s impact on jobs, the economy and local communities.
The study was conducted by Oxford Econometrics and analyzed industry information including:
- hotel operations by state;
- hotel guest ancillary spending based on consumer survey data by state;
- capital investment in hotels by analyzing data on new hotel construction and renovations;
- indirect and induced impacts supported by the hotel industry in other parts of the U.S. economy.
Some of the findings on the economic impact of the hotel industry in 2015 include:
- US$1.1 trillion of output (representing revenue plus certain taxes);
- 7.8 million jobs with US$355 billion of labor income;
- US$589 billion of GDP (representing contribution to U.S. gross domestic product);
- US$167 billion of federal, state and local taxes.
The AHLA also commissioned a study on U.S. small business ownership, conducted by STR. Sixty-one percent of U.S. hotels (33,651 hotels) are considered small businesses. The association said the study will better define the industry in its advocacy efforts with the U.S. government.