First and foremost, the coronavirus crisis is a human tragedy. Our thoughts and concerns are with all of those affected, as well as front-line workers and colleagues facing uncertain futures. While caring for the sick and reducing community spread are the top priorities, now is also the time to look ahead and start planning for the tough road ahead.
While the U.S. hotel industry saw growth across each performance metric during February, the current reality dramatically overtakes what positive growth the industry did have just one month ago.
The week ending 21 March brought some new lows in U.S. hotel performance, and it's likely the industry hasn't yet reached the bottom.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is unlike anything the travel industry has seen before—the speed at which it made its presence felt across the industry was staggering in its impact.
STR remains committed to keeping the hospitality industry updated on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our webinar series will provide in-depth updates on world regions around the globe. However, if you are unable to watch the full recording during this stressful time, you can find a summary of the key points below.
As the impact of COVID-19 continues to affect hotel performance across the globe, the Middle East and Africa are no exception. At the time of writing, 52 hotel closures have been officially reported in the Middle East in addition to more than 1,200 in Africa. This is low, however, when compared to the just under 40,000 closings in Europe.
Tracking events that have been affected by social distancing controls has been one of the common ways to get a pulse on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak across the globe.
The COVID-19 impact is now clearly visible in U.S. hotel performance metrics. For the week ending 14 March, revenue per available room declined 32.5%. It is fair to assume that this is the beginning of a long slide in demand and RevPAR as Americans practice social distancing and stay off the road.
Reservations for domestic flights and hotels in China are recovering from a coronavirus-induced slump as people return to work across the nation, online travel company Tongcheng-Elong Holdings Ltd. said.
More than 500 signatories supported calls for wage support, tax relief and financial aid, as the response by jurisdictions across the EU remained mixed.
Just back from a White House meeting with the president, the CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association characterized the impact of coronavirus in the United States is already more severe for the hotel industry than the September 11 attacks and the 2008 recession combined.
OYO's Chinese rival H Hotel, a budget hotel chain backed by Shanghai-based hospitality group Huazhu and venture capital firm IDG Capital, has now been merged with Huazhu's economy hotel brand Elan, according to an announcement by the Huazhu Group on March 9.
Dubai: Emaar Hospitality said it will stop bookings at some of its hotels between March 15 and August 31 amidst a general slowdown in the travel industry due to the coronavirus spread.
In an announcement from the Oval Office, President Trump on Wednesday night issued a 30-day travel ban from Europe beginning Friday at midnight.
Downturns in the lodging cycle can be difficult for hotel owners and operators alike. The inability to drive rate, reductions to demand and expense levels that do not decline proportionately with revenue foster a considerably challenging operational environment.
As hotel occupancy plunges to a single digit, Hong Kong's leadership toward one of its most important industries is being put to the test during the coronavirus crisis. So is the leadership of hotel CEOs in keeping their companies whole.
Oyo appears to be taking its once-explosive global expansion strategy down a few notches, and that could be a good thing for the young company in the face of still-uncertain impacts from the coronavirus and the reputational damage it recently suffered. These losses aren't pretty.
Even as infections of the novel coronavirus seemed to be slowing at one point last week, the effects of the epidemic on the global tourism industry were accelerating rapidly.
The number of Airbnb listings in London has quadrupled in the last four years as more and more of the city's housing stock has been gobbled up by short-term rental companies. As of May 2019, 80,770 properties in London were listed on Airbnb, with a staggering 23 per cent, or 11,200, of these thought to be in breach of a legal 90-day limit in the capital.
Hilton has closed about 150 hotels in China in response to the growing coronavirus crisis, taking 33,000 rooms out of commission, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta said on Tuesday.