HANYC
The Hotel Association of New York (HANYC) requested Elicit to develop and execute a communications strategy through which hotels all over New York City could achieve support and advocacy with respect to both elected officials and public sentiment.
Context
With the on-set of the COVID pandemic in 2020, the hospitality and tourism industry worldwide was faced with an array of difficult and high-stakes challenges. Rising cases, changing public policies and safety regulations meant that hotels in New York City, host to one of the most prolific tourism and hospitality industries in the world, were struggling to adapt to a swiftly changing socioeconomic landscape. In such circumstances, Elicit was approached by the Hotel Association of New York (HANYC) to develop and execute a communications strategy which hotels all over New York City could leverage for supported and advocacy with elected officials and public sentiment.
Challenge
HANYC’s foremost challenge was to understand the scope of the problem at hand. As COVID cases burgeoned and receded periodically between 2020-2021, some of the big-picture questions that needed to be answered were: what trends could be identified in terms of hotel occupancy, safety regulations, customer practices and business strategies? More importantly, how could the scope of the problem be communicated and data made available so the ill-health of the hospitality industry could be effectively understood and supported?
The Elicit Process
Our team at Elicit undertook a rigorous research process, and set out to collect both primary and secondary data on trends within the hospitality industry. We distributed a 48-question survey to members of HANYC, conducted interviews with hospitality executives, collected data on COVID trends, occupancy and revenue trends in the hospitality and tourism industry within the U.S., as well as best practices in the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Solutions
We presented HANYC with a research report that clearly and effectively laid out data on the hospitality industry in New York City, which had not been available before. Not only did our team work to provide hard-hitting data and stories from hotel-owners and managers working on-ground, we also presented a comparative analysis with data from countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Oceania that illustrated how the New York City hospitality industry could draw from best global practices, and what the path to a better future for New York City hotels could look like.
Impact
Our research and findings were presented before the New York City Mayor’s office and New York State’s Governor’s office by HANYC, after which tax exemptions were made possible for hotels within the New York jurisdictions. Results of our survey research for HANYC were also covered by Crain’s New York Business and Bisnow. Through our process, we were able to contribute to relief within the hospitality industry and provide a strong advocacy toolkit for HANYC.