Hilton closing Times Square hotel
Hilton is closing its Times Square hotel from October 1, according to a document it filed with state regulators this week. Two hundred employees will lose their jobs, the filing says, due to “unforeseeable business circumstances prompted by COVID-19.”
The 44-story hotel at 234 West 42nd Street, in New York, was opened in 2000. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, an industry group, hotel occupancy in urban markets was 38% in August, well below the 50% it takes for most properties to break even, according to a report by USA Today.
August hotel occupancy in New York was 38%, according to STR, a firm that tracks the hotel industry. It was 93% earlier.
International tourism has plummeted with the cancellation of flights and enactment of travel restrictions. In 2019, there were 66.6 million international and domestic visitors to the city. Those tourists brought in $72 billion in economic activity, provided 403,000 jobs and brought in $7 billion in local tax revenue, USA Today said.