The tourism sector is one of the key economic sectors of the Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Zanzibar. Long favoured by holidaymakers from across the world for their crystal-clear waters and palm-tree fringed beaches, these Indian Ocean islands took a severe hit during the pandemic with borders closed in most of the countries.
Tourism around the world is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hong Kong’s once vibrant industry is no exception. The path to recovery is unclear. In such extreme circumstances, is it even possible for tourism businesses to plan for the future? The answer is yes, say Ms Hanyuan Zhang and Professor Haiyan Song of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – but only if we can predict the unpredictable.
Indian tourists will be some of the most desirable travellers, given India’s growing economy, young population and rising middle class, according to GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that the country is projected to reach record levels of 29 million outbound trips by 2025 – a buoyant outlook considering the strains of COVID-19.
With lengthy lockdowns ending and travel restrictions easing, Australia’s hotel industry has seen recent improvement in hotel occupancy levels, according to preliminary data from STR through 31 October.
Australian hotels sales have surged to almost $2 billion this year – hitting a five-year high and up from just $681 million 2020 – despite a year of lockdowns and ongoing travel restrictions.
Australian accommodation declines for the 2020-21 financial year were worse for capital markets than regional areas, according to STR’s collection of national accommodation statistics through the Australian Accommodation Monitor.
Amid increased COVID-19 cases and lockdowns across the country, Australia’s hotel industry reported lower performance levels, according to preliminary August 2021 data from STR.
India’s progressive approach to vaccinations has led to an increase in travelers and hotel demand, especially in the leisure segment. Beyond the noticeable improvement, however, the country is showing a different trend in which markets are regaining occupancy.
Research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed Sri Lanka’s economy could face losses of more than LKR260 million each day it remains on the UK’s disruptive and damaging ‘red list’ for travel.
With the help of summer vacation, Mainland China’s overall hotel occupancy rate showed a good upward trend in July, with the second and third week of the month reaching 2019 levels.
As host to the delayed summer Olympics, Tokyo posted its highest hotel occupancy in 17 months and saw a pair of days with levels that approached the peak of the “Go To Travel” campaign in 2020, according to data and analysis from STR.
Reflecting the ongoing impact of the latest lockdowns, Sydney hotels showed significantly lower performance across the three key performance metrics, according to preliminary July 2021 data from STR.
The illustrious Karma Group has welcomed another elegant property into its luxury resort portfolio, this time in Vietnam. Sitting among the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage-listed town of Hoi An sits Karma Song Hoai.
South Asia’s largest hospitality company, reported its consolidated financials for the first quarter ending June 30th, 2021.
All key markets in China showed June 2021 increases in hotel occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) compared to the same period last year, except for Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
After a rapid decline due to a second COVID-19 wave, India’s hotel industry has seen a continued increase in occupancy due to the progressive approach to vaccinations in key markets across the country, according to preliminary data and analysis from STR.
With Australia battling a rise in COVID-19 cases, domestic travel has reduced drastically. While Australia’s domestic recovery was strong in H1 2021, the reintroduction of lockdowns and state border closures will serve as a blow, and set to weaken and slow down the domestic travel recovery. Additionally, Qantas airline standing down its staff signals the prospect of a longer road to recovery, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
After being one of the highest-performing countries during the early portion of 2021, Australia’s hotel occupancy has been on a rapid decline amid the latest COVID-19 lockdowns across the country, according to data from STR through 1 August.
In 2020, Chengdu’s hospitality industry accounted for 65.7% of GDP, contributing 52.2% to the city’s economic growth and significantly increasing its contribution to the development of energy levels and economies.
Like many markets worldwide, Mainland China has worked diligently to establish a new, albeit temporary, normal. That has included tight border controls, enhanced testing measures and small but strict lockdowns to prevent new surges in COVID caseloads. As a result, travel in China has quickly rebounded in both the leisure and business travel segments. Sure, performance declines have occurred during lockdowns, but rebounds have quickly followed, and through the first half of 2021, hotel performance has remained pretty much near normal based on the market’s historical trends.