LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Besides the wintry weather, tourism is taking Louisville by storm. It's good news for restaurants and hotels, but the increased demand could be a growing problem for the local hospitality industry.
“Business in Louisville is coming back,” said David Greene, with the Louisville Hotel Association and general manager of the Louisville Marriott Downtown. “It’s coming back, in what I believe, is a quicker pace than we anticipated."
But businesses, including the hotel, can’t find workers.
“We’ve seen it all from the pandemic up until now. Almost two years to the day when we started shutting down the hotels and hospitality business in Louisville," said Greene. "Since then, we’ve weathered the storm and we started rehiring."
Pre-pandemic, Louisville saw an economic impact of $3.4 billion from tourism activity, according to Louisville Tourism. The city also welcomed 19 million visitors in 2019.
“We’re hoping to get back that,” said Stacey Yates, vice president of marketing communications for Louisville Tourism. “Here on a weekend downtown you’ll see droves of people going to conventions, there's youth sports in town, concerts and of course and all the bourbon activities. What we need now is the workforce to support those people and welcome them.”
That's why the two businesses will be working with other hospitality businesses to put on a job fair at the Kentucky Derby Museum from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15.
“We're offering hiring incentives, higher pay and you’ll have all the people in the same room at the same time," Yates said.
This comes weeks before the 148th Kentucky Derby.
"It's our largest party of the year and it’s the time we welcome the most guests and deliver the highest economic impact,” said Yates.
The weekend of Kentucky Oaks typically generates around $400 million alone.
Greene wants to play his part in keeping that money flowing by bringing money into the city through the hotels.
“You don’t have to have a college education to have a long-lasting lucrative career in hotels,” said Greene.
From entry-level to first time managers and director roles, Greene said there is a little something for every qualified applicant.
“Before the end of the summer I’m going to hire 100 associates into this hotel," he said.
The hope is to gather enough candidates to eventually help even more places within the service industry still struggling.
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