Hotels and resorts still struggling, hoping for more financial assistance

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Hotels and resorts across Central Florida are struggling and the hospitality industry is hoping federal relief will come to the rescue. 

Daytona Beach hotels and resorts are still struggling to make it through the pandemic. Normally rooms would be booked up at The Shores Resort & Spa for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend, but that's not the case this year. 

"Labor Day right now it's behind," said Shores Resort & Spa General Manager Rob Burnetti. "We're not expecting gangbuster numbers over a time period that's usually really good for us." 

Burnetti says the resorts' revenue is down about 50 percent and they're not expecting the rest of the year to look much better. 
 
"2020 is going to be a bust," Burnetti said. 
 
Hospitality Consultant Reb Dellibovi says hotels across the state are struggling. 
 
"The industry is saying that up to 40 percent of the hotels are going to close by the end of the year we're obviously hoping that's not true," Dellibovi said. 
 
The hospitality industry is hoping the 'Helping Open Properties Endeavor' or HOPE Act to come to the rescue. If passed, the bill would allow for some hotels and resorts who can't pay off their commercial mortgages to get financial assistance. 
 
"The existing programs from Washington DC don't really help commercial real estate and the hotels and the really large payments that they owe," Dellibovi said. "The HOPE Act is just a means of covering those payments." 
 
Dellibovi says he believes there is hope in the future for the hospitality industry.
 
"As soon as there's a vaccine or a therapy it's all going to come back," Dellibovi said. "The question is how long is that."