JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Jacksonville has gained roughly $26 million in economic impact from the U.S. Marine Corps using a downtown hotel to quarantine recruits headed to basic training during the COVID-19 pandemic, hotel officials said Monday.
“The Hyatt Regency Jacksonville is thankful to the United States Marine Corps for selecting the Hyatt as the East Coast location for its 2021 recruiting mission,” said the hotel’s general manager, Joe Hindsley.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic affected the travel and hospitality industry globally, the support … helped the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville to continue to provide jobs for hundreds of colleagues … and bring in a significant source of hotel revenue.”
Starting in early January, the Marines leased the hotel for six months as the East Coast site for a required two-week pandemic quarantine before recruits headed to Parris Island, S.C.
The hotel, which last summer eliminated 120 jobs and laid off 70 other staffers because of lost business during the pandemic, this year hosted 7,720 Marines and provided about 500,000 meals, the hotel reported.
City officials formally delivered a City Council resolution Monday thanking the service for coming to Jacksonville.
“We were honored that the Marines Corps chose Jacksonville for the recruiting mission,” said Michael Corrigan, President and CEO of Visit Jacksonville. “… This piece of business helped to usher Jacksonville much more quickly into recovery from COVID-19 losses. Being able to host events of this size and caliber here in Jacksonville shows that the city can host almost anything!”
In a release about the hotel’s use, Marine Col. Riccoh Player praised “the unparalleled hospitality and care we have received” in Jacksonville.
During the six-month lease, more than 7,300 service members have been transported to Parris Island from Marine’s Task Force Commitment site downtown, the release said.