Some area hotels not impacted by the delta variant

(ABC 6 News) – As the delta variant spreads through the country ahead of Labor Day weekend, the CDC has issued a travel warning telling vaccinated people to "consider their risk" and telling unvaccinated people not to travel at all.

So what does this mean for the hospitality industry? Is the delta variant impacting area hotels? In Rochester, the hospitality industry is the second-largest employer, next to Mayo Clinic.

ABC 6 NEWS spoke to Laurel Schacht, the general manager of Aspen Suites and Select in Rochester.

She says her hotels have not seen an immediate reaction to the delta variant.

Hotel occupancy has been the same since the beginning of the year. She says Aspen Select did well last month and reached good numbers as they did in 2019.

But, the other hotel, Aspen Suites is down 15 percent from 2019.

But no matter what, what’s helping Laurel’s hotels is the customers that are coming in.

"Our regional business is the best its ever been, so like the five-state area. We also have corporate contracts where they send people in for their health insurance and that business has picked up significantly," Schacht said.

Laurel says going into the holiday weekend, business will be slower as people mainly come to Rochester for Mayo Clinic for treatment.

ABC 6 NEWS also spoke to Hotel Indigo in Rochester. They told us the delta variant is not affecting them any more than the first round of COVID did.

He says their schedule moves around Mayo Clinic guests and they’re doing what they can to keep their guests safe by cleaning the hotel as much as they can.