Hotel operators say they're bleeding cash in the hundreds of millions and need the government shutdown to end now

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Business Insider

Oct 23, 2025, 2:05 AM ET


US hotel operators said they are losing millions of dollars because of the government shutdown ahead of their busiest season of the year. In a Wednesday press release, the American Hotel and Lodging Association said that the shutdown has cost the hotel industry about $650 million to date and has had a "devastating impact" on the travel and hospitality sectors. Business Insider could not independently verify this figure.

"Economic uncertainty and waning consumer confidence are translating into booking cancellations and discouraging future planning, especially as we head into the heart of the holiday travel season," the association's president and CEO, Rosanna Maietta, said in the press release. "These essential industries fuel our economy, and we need our leaders in Washington to come together now and vote to reopen the government as soon as possible," she added.

The association sent an email to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging them to end the government shutdown.

The letter was signed by 30 hospitality associations country-wide, including the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the Latino Hotel Association, and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators, and Developers. The associations covered properties in at least 28 states and Puerto Rico.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/hotel-trade-group-bleeding-millions-government-shutdown-2025-10

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Link to American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) PRESS RELEASE - Hotel industry unites to urge Congress to end government shutdown

Link to American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) LETTER (PDF) - https://www.ahla.com/sites/default/files/Hotel%20Industry%20Government%20Shutdown%20Letter.pdf

[LuvLoogie]

1. Fuck them and their balance sheets.

Nothing about the racism and fascism of this regime from these corporations and industries.

I don't fucking care anymore. America is shit and deserves what it gets, what it prioritizes.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. How presumptuous. ...

Maybe they think because the president is a real-estate failure he'll sympathize? And how dare they try to run the US government. Who did they vote for, if they even voted?

[twodogsbarking]

2. If you have a government contract you still have to perform, you just don't get paid. Fine print.

Really. Been there.

[melm00se]

18. Yup

Government deals are steady but they have more than a few gotchas that no one from the outside sees.

[Happy Hoosier]

19. Depends upon the contract.

I work a stack of government contracts.
Some are funded, some aren't. The one's that aren't, we're not working.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. When it comes down to it, they're not "essential", and that's why they have a problem

Because their services are largely optional (that "holiday season" thing they mention), people who are affected by the shutdown are cutting their optional spending, such as on hotels.

There will be people hurting a lot more than hotel operators, because they won't be able to obtain essential needs.

[3Hotdogs]

9. Yeah. But they're the proletariat

and so they don't count.

[Bluetus]

15. Air travel will be a holy mess

by the holidays if Trump's shutdown continues. That will hit hotels a lot harder than what they are seeing now.

[Prairie Gates]

4. Uh, it's also the fact that people from outside the US don't want to come here to get tackled by masked gunmen

And people are not traveling to states where they don't feel comfortable with the political beliefs of the populace.

Trump's sociopathic partisan bullshit is destroying the country.

[littlemissmartypants]

8. Bingo. ...

It's a multidimensional problem.

[IronLionZion]

13. Yes, I've been wondering when the US travel industry would say something

It's a bit odd that a president who owns hotels/resorts would blatantly screw over travel to the US. People don't want to come here when there are plenty of friendlier options.

[pandr32]

16. 100%

Here in Hawaii the hotels are not full and flights are already less frequent. We still get the cruise ships, but they are from mainland USA. Canadians from the West of the country are heading to Mexico instead.
Prices are way too high as well.

[yardwork]

20. This. I'm reading that vacation rentals have been way down.

This summer was a disaster. And, 2024 had been a great year, record breaking.

So all those morons who voted for Trump because they blamed Biden for the COVID losses destroyed their businesses. They had recovered very well under Biden.

[Autumn]

5. Bullshit .They're bleeding cash because no one wants to come to his

shithole country.

[mgardener]

6. They should have mentioned tarriffs

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Gotta pay the rent. Gonna need corporate debt securities bailout. Trillions.

No cash flow, no paperwork. Fill out the online form. Debt cancellation if you can't pay.

[wiggs]

11. Do the hotel operators lodge complaints about disappeared or scared employees who do

much of the everyday work? Do they care about the employees who are eligible for health insurance and who will see huge premium increases and fewer hospital options?

Did they write letters about the US becoming less desirable for foreign travelers, or about the looming self-imposed recession/stagflation?

[modrepub]

12. Lobbyists Must Be Worried

They’ll soon be on the firing line.

Always interesting to see some spokesperson tapped by journalists rather than actually going out and surveying the local business community.

[Marthe48]

14. Many families need $50 for groceries

Not even the price of one room

Tell the republicans to leave health care alone! End the rwnj shutdown.

[Quanto Magnus]

17. Trump will now sue them

for daring to say anything 'bad' about the shutdown...

[wiggs]

21. Read their letter. Could have included a more effective strategy of asking the GOP to due their part and

restore funding that would benefit most of the 9 million workers in the hospitality industry. It's the GOP who need to be convinced to do their jobs...senate dems are already looking out for hospitality workers.

Would have thought that even the hotel owners association would support that...except maybe political loyalty may be more of a priority than the 31 million per day loss?? Someone should ask them: in what way has our disordered and narcissistic WH helped their industry?

[Buddyzbuddy]

22. Surely it's not because they're over-priced and under perform.

Or that tourism is down, way down. It couldn't happen to a better bunch.

The oligarchs are in charge and setting policy and now they're whining about business being down. Their policies are breaking the backs of American consumers.
Unless you're one of the elite business travelers getting tax breaks for their stays, why would anybody stay at their bed bug bonanza. No thanks

My wife and I used to have a minimum stay 15 nights a year for pleasure, not anymore.

[wolfie001]

23. Now that I'm retired, I have zero plans for ANY vacations

Especially with the fat orange imbecile in the WH.

[BidenRocks]

24. Where would we go?

Red states are out.
Air travel is out for safety and TSA accessing our phones on demand.
Driving? Gas is going up higher.
The cost of food and lodging are too high. Right Vegas?
Canada and Mexico don't want Americans either.

Home it is.

[wolfie001]

25. I've learned more about cooking and food $ saving since I retired in early Dec. 2023.........

.......than my previous 60-some-odd years or so. I had a hunch that that racist pig would go back to the WH, and I've basically been on a Wartime Rations plan ever since. I also will NEVER cross the VA/NC border again. I'll just say "no thanks" to the racist, hate-filled south. My sympathies to any Dems living there. I hope they stay safe. 🙏

[Ritabert]

27. We're not going anywhere.

[Raftergirl]

26. This really has nothing to do with the shutdown. Its due to high cost of everything so people not spending

money on discretionary items - like travel, eating out, etc, plus the fact that the rest of the world has stopped coming to the US to vacation.