The Impacts of Natural Disasters on the Hospitality and Tourism Industry
In 2021 there were eight severe weather events, four tropical cyclone events, three tornado outbreaks, two flooding events, one drought/heat wave event, one winter storm/cold wave event and one wildfire event (Source: USA Today).
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the United States has sustained 310 weather and climate disasters since 1980 “where the overall damages/costs reached exceeded $1 billion. The total cost of these 310 events exceeds $2.155 trillion.”
These natural disasters impacted the lives of millions, countless businesses and supply chains, and caused ripple effects that were felt throughout the country.
One industry especially impacted by natural disasters is the hospitality and tourism industry. In the United States, 2.58 million rental properties are occupied seasonally and 450 million people use vacation rentals worldwide (Source: iPropertyManagement).
When a hurricane comes through and causes any kind of damage to rental homes, hotels, businesses and restaurants, the economic impact can be felt throughout.
“What we see most often is the most serious impact of hurricanes on North Carolina is usually flooding. We’ve seen a few different towns in the past whose entire historic downtown has flooded, and certainly, something like that has an economic impact on the town,” said Keith Acree, communications officer for North Carolina Emergency Management (Source: Sun Journal).
In order for these tourism-driven industries to get back to business as quickly as possible and minimize revenue loss, it is crucial to have an emergency response plan in place.
At Sasser, we believe the mitigation process begins well before a disaster ever occurs. We build disaster mitigation plans around data and predictive analytics while our extensive fleet is ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice.
Our teams have worked on flood-damaged buildings, reconstructed buildings after a catastrophic event and have created plans to minimize downtime and help you safely and efficiently return to normal business operations after a disaster.
You can learn more about Sasser Restoration’s disaster recovery plans, like the Greenlight Priority Response Program, by giving our team a call at (844) 449-1144 or via email at info@sasserrestoration.com.
Contact a Sasser Professional