To assist the international markets build prediction models on the economic recovery post COVID-19 confinements, lockdowns and crisis we are publishing frequent updates from all the industries of Shiji's Chinese operations. We hope this can help management, strategy, marketing and operations teams of the various industries to develop their own plans for recovery and give some points of reference in this unique situation.
Mainland China's daily hotel occupancy reached an absolute level of 31.8% on 28 March, up from a low of 7.4% during the first week of February, according to preliminary data from STR. Additionally, opening rates have been significant in key markets across the region."We're seeing green shoots in hotel occupancy figures, but we must stress that these are only early signs of a recovery that is likely to develop slowly," said Christine Liu, STR's regional manager for North Asia. "Some of the demand stems from corporate travel, primarily within the same province, as well as small-scale meetings. Additionally, hotels are seeing business from those travelers quarantined after returning to China from other countries as well as those returning to cities for work. Overall, we're seeing limited leisure business in city centers but a bit more recovery in that segment in surrounding suburbs."
Shanghai Jinqiao Export Processing Zone is located at Pudong New District, Shanghai. Jinqiao used to be a state-level economic and technological development zone established at the beginning of Pudong New District's development in 1990, with a planned area of 27.38 square kilometers.
Residents in China have been subject to strict restrictions on movement for several weeks, and for nearly two months in the Hubei province. Wuhan was the epicentre of the COVID-19 virus outbreak and was locked down entirely, with barriers that prevented movement in the city now being dismantled.
Radisson Hotel Group continues to expand in China's most dynamic destinations with the signing of its inaugural property in Nanjing, the country's ancient capital city, the current capital of Jiangsu province and a thriving modern metropolis.
From the 2020 Chinese Spring Festival, Covid-19 spread in China. Hubei Province was the first and worst-hit area. Successively, the contagious virus reached cities and towns all over the country within a few days. The Chinese government quickly responded to the outbreak, initiated various measures and policies to help people pull through.
Oyo Hotels and Homes has started to see a recovery in bookings in China, its second-largest market, as the coronavirus outbreak eases up in some parts of the country, the Indian hospitality startup's Chief Executive Ritesh Agarwal told Reuters on Tuesday.
Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center innovates its food and beverage service to reach customers to combat the novel coronavirus restrictions. Updates to recent delivery services include a new delivery app addition to the restaurant's repertoire, alongside the advanced WeChat ordering options. The unveiled WeChat online menu allows customers to pre-order online and set up a pick-up time at the restaurants.
Across the Shiji Group product lines we are sharing data on how the COVID-19 crisis is recovering for other markets to use in their analysis and planning. We have looked at the transaction volumes across all our payment integrations to help give some comparable information. A few key points:
Active COVID-19 cases in China peaked on 17 February. Since then the number of active cases has been reducing rapidly. To assist hotels around the world in forecasts during the crisis we are publishing information of how the Chinese market is rebounding reservations since the peak of the epidemic. We hope this can give some comparison of how the hotel market could pick up in other countries. Some Takeaways:
The global tourism industry could not have been hurt so badly any time in history other than the year 2019−20. The tourism industry involves temporary displacement of people from one place to another, whereby demand is generated. Thus, any factor that impedes tourist flow will cause a negative demand shock in the industry one way or another. The impact on tourism demand depends on the nature of the shock as well as how long it persists.
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.
The coronavirus outbreak in 2020 has been a severe challenge for the hotel industry in China, putting the risk management capability of each operating hotel to the test. While from the perspective of hotel investment and asset management, which are more strategic and forward-thinking than day-to-day operation, the industry will recover from the downturn eventually, the impact of this outbreak will force investors to reconsider their strategic planning in hotel investment and in asset management.
In view of the evolving novel coronavirus situation, Shanghai Sinoexpo Informa Markets International Exhibition Co., Ltd., the organizer of Hotel Plus, decided to postpone the expo after extensive consultation with exhibitors and industry stakeholders.
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.
Analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE) report that China's total construction pipeline boomed in the fourth quarter of 2019 and closed the quarter at 3,526 projects/643,435 rooms, up 28% by projects and 11% by rooms year-over-year (YOY). At the end of 2019, both projects and rooms in the construction pipeline are at new all-time highs. China has the second largest pipeline in the world.
Market sentiment in China has plummeted to a historically low score, with the degree of pessimism reflected across all regions in China. The China Hotel Market Sentiment Survey is designed to provide the China hotel industry with a quick assessment of the future market prediction. We have conducted the sentiment survey regarding the influence of the coronavirus outbreak in order to assess its impact on the market.
Marriott was already having trouble in Asia-Pacific in 2019 before the coronavirus impact hit. The company isn't forecasting a major impact outside of Asia, and it's already reopening hotels inside China. It pays to collect fees — and not actually own or run hotels — during a crisis like this.
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 CEO Ritesh Agarwal told CNBC that his company is trying to keep as many of its hotels in China open as possible. Like its peers, the Indian budget hotel chain has seen a drop in occupancy. China is one of its biggest markets and OYO works with about 9,000 hotels there