Virginia tourism did well during summer, still facing worker shortage

By Tyler Arnold

(The Center Square) – The Virginia tourism industry performed well during the summer months despite high rates of inflation and expensive gas prices, but continued to have problems filling roles amid an industry-wide worker shortage.

“The Virginia tourism industry saw a strong summer, especially among weekend leisure travelers,” Caroline Logan, the director of communications for the Virginia Tourism Corp., told The Center Square.

“While rising transportation costs, including higher gas prices, competed for travelers’ share of wallet, it did not necessarily impact their decision to, or not to travel,” Logan added. “Despite inflation, travel demand remained robust.”

Eric Terry, the president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association, told The Center Square that travel was hindered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the industry saw a surge during the summer of 2021 when restrictions were eased. He said this year’s numbers were slightly lower than last year’s numbers, but that last year’s near-record numbers were exceptional.

“It’s a little bit less than last year,” Terry said.

Because there were some concerns about air travel, Terry said the drivability of the commonwealth’s tourism market may have helped its performance. Because people wanted to travel by car, he said that may have negated concerns about fuel cost.

However, to keep up with demand, Terry noted that a lot of businesses needed to fill job vacancies with foreign workers on temporary J-1 visas. He said the worker visas helped alleviate some of the problems with the worker shortage, but that many businesses were still struggling. Some hotels, he added, could not rent out every room because they did not have enough staff to keep up with all of the work and some restaurants needed to restrict days of operation, rather than being open seven days per week.

John Zirkle, the president of the Virginia Beach Hotel Association, echoed many of the points made by Terry.

“The summer season was quite strong in Virginia Beach this year,” Zirkle told The Center Square. “While we were not as busy as 2021, it was still a great summer.”

Zirkle said that demand has begun to slow down in late August, which could be caused by the economy and inflation weighing on people’s minds. He also said that staffing remains a huge challenge for the industry.

With the summer coming to an end, Terry is looking toward corporate travel in the fall. He said those numbers were poor during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that the industry is seeing a lot of momentum heading into the season this year.