Travel Weekly
Yariv C. Ben-Ari, co-chair of Herrick's Real Estate Hospitality practice, was quoted in Travel Weekly about how the hospitality industry is addressing ongoing staffing shortages.
The article noted that staff shortages in the hospitality industry was a key concern at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) Law conference in late January 2025. Yariv attended the conference and said that immigration policy and potential mass deportation impacts "seemed to be at the forefront of people's minds."
"While we have not yet seen mass deportation, that is on our minds, and there is a concern [about] what happens if that comes," said Yariv, adding that hotel operators are particularly worried about potential staffing shortages in housekeeping, food and beverage service and other roles.
"If we don't have enough folks to do room service or maid service, [hotels] just won't supply those services every day, similar to what happened during the pandemic," he said. "And we may see that people who have previously worked at hotels and went to work elsewhere will come back, because the hotels will be willing to pay more just to cover the shortage."
The article also highlighted that these potential wage increases could affect consumer costs. "That expense is going to be passed on somewhere," Yariv said.
"We're all kind of trying to find our way forward with it," said Yariv. "We don't necessarily know the scope of it, but we understand that it's going to be a challenge going forward."