The American Hotel & Lodging Association, along with executives from 78 hotel and hospitality-related companies and organizations, appealed directly to President Donald Trump for relief for the lodging industry in a letter sent Thursday.
The group called on the government to use section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, which allows for emergency lending to bank and nonbank companies by the Fed's board of governors.
"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." according to the letter. The Main Street Lending Program, which was established to provide up to $600 billion in financing for U.S. small and midsize businesses that were in sound financial condition prior to the pandemic, has been underutilized because of "overly restrictive terms," according to the letter.
The letter outlined the hotel industry's dire situation: three out of every 10 hotel employees furloughed or laid off, and more than two-thirds of hotels reporting that they can last just six more months at current projected revenue and occupancy levels.
Top executives from several major hotel companies signed the letter including Accor, Best Western, Choice Hotels, G6 Hospitality, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group, Loews Hotels & Co., Marriott International, Radisson Hotel Group, RLH Corporation, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.