HOSPITALITY
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boardwalk with breathing room , reimagined dine-in and carry-out meals , and more efficient ways of operating hospitality and travel businesses are giving the 2021 tourism season a whole new look and feel .
For greater Ocean City businesses , a forced refresh last year made them stronger , smarter , more creative , and prepared for what ’ s expected to be a banner season thanks to pent-up demand for travel and wider access to vaccinations .
This is critical for the region since hospitality and tourism is our economic engine . In a typical year , the industry generates $ 238 million in state and local taxes , trickling down to other industries that support restaurants , hotels , and entertainment . “ If we didn ’ t have tourism , we wouldn ’ t have a community ,” says Susan L . Jones , Executive Director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association .
Hospitality took a devastating hit a year ago following ordered shutdowns . Worcester County tourism includes about 11,000 jobs in a typical year . In Maryland , about 150,000 jobs are devoted to tourism , and “ it was the largest impacted industry ,” Jones reports .
Across the country , travel spending was down $ 500 billion , costing the US economy $ 1.1 trillion with jobs in the industry dropping from 17 million in 2019 to 11 million in 2020 , a 34 percent decline . “ Employers had to be supercreative about how they could hang on to their employees and generate revenue ,” Jones says .
But as the saying goes , what doesn ’ t kill you makes you stronger . And survival was the only option , so area organizations joined forces and provided tools , support , and hands-on help to assure the sustainability of its No . 1 source of jobs .
“ I ’ ve always operated by the three Cs : Connect , Communicate , and Collaborate ,” Jones says . With this approach , along with partnership and advocacy , Worcester County muscled through an unprecedented travel season and experienced wins — successes that are a mark of coming together as a community .
CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY .
One of the silver linings right out of the gate in March 2020 was a renewed sense of unity that brought neighbors , businesses , and nonprofits together . “ We found our compassion again as a community ,” Jones says , relating examples such as restaurants finding charitable ways to give away perishable foods during the shutdown and donating takeout plates for hospital workers and their families .
“ There were a lot of phone calls happening in the beginning with the question , ‘ How do we give what we can to the people who need it ?’” Jones recalls . “ That compassion drove us as a community to say , ‘ Alright . We ’ ve got to make sure we can move forward .’”
Creativity was key . So was adaptability .
“ Hospitality , across the board , had to make adjustments in the way they conducted their operations . Businesses created additional staff dollars for maintaining good Covid-19 practices and added new offerings like carryout and packaged goods ,” says Lachelle Scarlato , Executive Director of the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce .
Reinventing operations resulted in improved efficiencies , and in many cases , better processes . For instance , housekeeping has always been a challenging role to fill . Now , the task is streamlined with towel drops and sheet delivery during visits and deep cleaning in between guests instead of everyday maid service .
Industrywide , a Stay Safe initiative by the American Hotel and Lodging Association advocated for best practices that focused on limited contact and maximizing sanitization while running housekeeping operations with fewer workers .
Establishing relationships with national and local organizations — while also connecting businesses with each other — was crucial for promoting safe , healthy practices that allowed for reopening and inviting guests back to Ocean City .
COMMUNICATING AS ONE .
Between restrictions and new operating policies , businesses needed guidance to assure they could safely serve guests while also protecting their employees . Another success : forming the Ocean City Recovery Team . “ We immediately started communicating with the governor to make sure he understood that our community talks and collaborates on how to be safe ,” Jones says .
Guidelines were developed and distributed to businesses and sent to the governor ’ s office for vetting . “ We spent the year voicing our concerns to the governor ’ s staff to make sure we still had a season ,” Jones reflected .
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