San Diego-area hotels demonstrated their COVID-19 safety protocols Thursday and want the state to allow them to resume hosting group meetings.
The Manchester Grand Hyatt hosted a walkthrough to show the media and local officials how it has implemented federal, state and local health guidelines to ensure the health and well being of guests and hotel employees.
San Diego Tourism Authority CEO Julie Coker said hotels in the region reopened for tourists four months ago.
“We've been very successful having leisure guests throughout the summer,” Coker said. “And so, we have taken those learnings and we can now apply them to how we can hold meetings safely.”
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The San Diego region lost 77,000 jobs in the tourism sector over the last year, making tourism one of the hardest hit employment sectors in San Diego.
Restarting meetings would be a significant step toward putting thousands of hotel employees back to work and boosting the local tourism industry.
According to the San Diego Tourism Authority, tourism is the second largest segment of San Diego's economy and employs approximately 194,000 people.
