Employees and PPP. Managing furloughs, navigating Paycheck Protection Program funds, securing loan forgiveness, and protecting the path back for your best employees.
Cost-cutting and preserving cash. Cash is king. Open conversations early with lenders and vendors, defer what you can, and treat every dollar saved as a runway extension.
Sanitation and managing sick guests or employees. Clear protocols for handling positive cases, plus the operational and communication changes needed to give customers confidence in returning.
Digital marketing and revenue management in a new environment. Different market segments became reachable, the old rate structure no longer worked, and the competitive set itself shifted — meaning yesterday’s comp set wasn’t necessarily today’s.
Sales pipeline rebuilding. Group events were being canceled, postponed, or rescheduled. The real question became which segments were actually worth selling into now versus which ones to nurture for the recovery.
Looking back, much of this framework applies to any downturn — and the operators who moved fastest on these five fronts came back strongest. For where the industry stands today, see our the US Economy is affecting the San Diego Hotel Market in 2026.
