By: Jared Evan

New York City’s hotel industry is making an astonishing bust-to-boom post-COVID comeback, and the unexpected driving force behind this revival is the migrant crisis, and piles of cash NYC is using to pay for the illegal’s shelter.

After the COVID-19 outbreak brought devastating effects to the hotel sector, leaving thousands of rooms empty and triggering bankruptcies and closures, the city’s hospitality scene is now experiencing a remarkable resurgence, thanks to open borders and the Biden migrant debacle, NY Post reported.

The migrant crisis has presented opportunities for businesspeople to capitalize on the situation. Industry experts reveal that many are looking to buy hotels or even open new ones, enticed by the considerable funding the city is allocating to accommodate asylum-seekers, and also due to the scarcity of available rooms for tourists.

In a surprising shift, hotels have become a favored asset class compared to office buildings, as stated by Daniel Lesser, CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors, during a recent New York Hotel & Hospitality conference held at the New York Marriott Marquis, NY Post notes.

The influx of migrants is reshaping the industry, with more than 100 hotels now partnering with Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to house over 10,000 asylum-seekers.

The migrant situation has inadvertently benefited the industry as it has caused a reduction in hotel inventory available to transient tourists, leading to an increased demand for rooms.

Notably, two major Manhattan hotels, the Roosevelt in the Grand Central Terminal area and the Holiday Inn in the Financial District, have already been converted into migrant shelters for the foreseeable future. Others are offering their space on a month-to-month basis, and the city has entered into a substantial $275 million contract with the hotel association, setting aside 5,000 hotel rooms for migrants.

The transformation of the iconic 1,000-room Roosevelt into a migrant shelter couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. The hotel had been closed during the pandemic and remained unoccupied until its owners struck a deal with city officials to repurpose it as a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center.

Although the migrant crisis has been a silver lining for the hotel industry, it is essential to acknowledge that the sector still faces challenges in its full recovery. The city’s hotel occupancy rate remains lower by 12 percentage points in 2022 compared to 2019, and for the first half of this year, it trails 2019 by an average of 5 points, according to the hotel association.

In comparison to other international cities like Paris and London, New York City’s tourism business has not fully rebounded. Paris and London were ahead of 2019 numbers in 2022 by 15% and 7%, respectively, while NYC still lagged behind.

Moreover, the city currently has 118,000 hotel rooms compared to 124,000 before the pandemic, indicating that there is still some way to go before the industry returns to its pre-pandemic capacity.

The Holiday Inn, for instance, now charges the city $190 per room per night, nearly double the $102 it charged on the market earlier this year, as reported in court records. This further highlights how the migrant crisis has had a direct impact on the industry’s financial performance.

A mayoral spokesman confidently stated, “New York City isn’t coming back — it’s back.”