300 | 2020 Hindsight: Lodging Leaders reviews hot topics, gives sneak peek of what’s ahead
Summary: <br> {caption}Co-founders of Long Live Lodging, an online multimedia news organization that covers the hospitality industry, gathered in March 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia, for a group shot a few months after agreeing to develop the new venture. They are, from left, Anand Patel, director of operations; Jon Albano, founder and co-host of Lodging Leaders podcast and director of production; Judy Maxwell, director of editorial and co-host of Lodging Leaders; and Neha Patel, director of marketing. The Patels also own and operate Myriann.com, which develops and manages Long Live Lodging’s website.{/caption}<br> Long Live Lodging, multimedia storytelling for the new age of hospitality, carves a niche with innovative programming<br> on Albano founded Lodging Leaders podcast more than five years ago to spotlight hospitality industry experts and influencers. Today, the podcast marks its 300th episode. It’s apropos that the news organization reaches the milestone at the dawn of 2021, given the historic newsworthiness of 2020.<br> <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/lodging-leaders/#.X_OauthKg2w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lodging Leaders</a> podcast is part of <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Long Live Lodging</a>, an online multimedia news organization that covers the hospitality industry. The company officially launched in September 2019. Its main focus in 2020 was how the coronavirus crisis impacted the hospitality industry. And it continues to cover how the course of the pandemic has altered hotel businesses. Access our complete coronavirus coverage <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/coronavirus/#.X_Q879hKg2w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.<br> COVID-19 emerged as a health and economic doubleheader in March and the impact on lodging was swift and devastating.<br> Beginning, March 16, the team has produced nearly 40 reports that explored myriad trends and issues brought about by the pandemic and the ensuing downturn in business at most of the nation’s 57,000 hotels.<br> The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global health pandemic on March 11. On Friday, March 13, the Trump Administration declared the viral outbreak a national emergency. “That Monday is when we went to three episodes a week,” Albano said. The first report was <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/254-coronavirus-update-high-cancelations-and-low-demand-hotel-pricing-in-a-steep-downturn/#.X_Og59hKg2w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Episode 254 “High Cancellations and Low Demand: Hotel pricing in a steep downturn</a>.<br> “The one that really sticks with me aired just two weeks later, <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/260-startling-statistics-industry-analysts-stunned-at-depth-of-downturn/#.X_Ohs9hKg2w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Episode 260</a>.” said Judy Maxwell, co-founder, editorial director and podcast co-host.<br> “That’s when industry analysts, including <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janfreitag/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jan Freitag</a> with a <a href="https://str.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">STR</a> expressed shock over the deep downturn in business.”<br> Here’s an excerpt from Freitag’s recorded presentation via STR’s platform and featured in the episode titled <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/260-startling-statistics-industry-analysts-stunned-at-depth-of-downturn/#.X_Ohs9hKg2w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Startling Statistics: Industry analysts stunned at depth of downturn</a>.<br> Freitag: “So the week ending March 21st, RevPAR declined 69.5 percent. It’s the steepest weekly RevPAR decline we have ever recorded ever in our 30-year history.”<br> He went on to say analysts at STR expected business performance to get worse. “This has been the third week of consecutive, double-digit RevPAR decline,
