According to a recent survey conducted by the American Hotel and Lodging Association, 97% of hotels surveyed said they are experiencing a staffing shortage.

The number one position in need right now is housekeeping. On Tuesday, another new airline had its inaugural flight in and out of MCO to Oslo, Norway. Norse Atlantic Airways.

A good barometer to look at with how good tourism has been in Central Florida is by looking at Tourism Development Tax dollars In Orange County. So far, this year alone four months in 2022 has been four of the best five months in the history of TDT collections. There is no doubt more tourists are coming to Central Florida and spending more money, but one industry still has a big problem.

With over 50 airlines flying in and out of Orlando from around the world. On Tuesday, 305 travelers from Norway flew in to Orlando for the first time on Norse Atlantic Air.

“Orlando, I think for any people, is the way to explore for many Europeans going here,” Norse Atlantic Airways CEO Bjorn Larsen explains. “They want to go to the theme parks, they want to go somewhere that has attractions for the whole family.”

According to Visit Orlando, a record of nearly 76 million travelers came to Central Florida in 2019. 2022 is on pace to surpass that record year.

There’s currently over 130 thousand open positions in the hotel industry nationwide according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. 50% of those jobs are for housekeepers.

Rob Burnetti is the GM at The Shores Resort and Spa in Volusia County. He has been in the hotel industry for 35 years and admits he’s never seen a staffing issue like this before. Especially with housekeeping.

“We have bumped up the pay in that position gosh over 30 percent in the last couple of months,” Rob Burnetti says. “We are having the same challenges and we are not even getting people applying for those jobs.”

Caysee Parker has owned her own cleaning business for four years and admits the last two have gotten quite competitive.

“In the Facebook groups I was the only independent cleaner for like a year or two years,” Parker says. “Then they started popping up a lot left and right.”

An independent home cleaner like Parker can earn roughly five times more an hour than a hotel housekeeper, but Burnetti says that’s not a fair comparison.

“When you are out on your own having those businesses you have insurance costs, you have workers’ comp costs, there are other things you have to pay,” Burnetti explains. “People who come to work for us they get their hourly rate. They don’t have those added costs of running their own business.”

While the hotel industry has nearly flat lined in finding workers, Parker is in cruise control.

“’If you wanted your house clean and you are like, hey come this week, I can’t,” the business owner says. “I am normally booked a month in advance.”

Hotels are continuing to book in Central Florida, but getting those rooms ready is becoming a serious concern.

Hotels are now outsourcing cleaning service to independent contractors.

According to MCO, more tourists will come to Central Florida. The airport reports they are in conversations with at least a handful more airlines looking to fly in to Orlando.