It’s very early days but we’re already seeing downturns in the spread of Coronavirus in the UK and Europe. While we’re all dealing with the impact on our lives and our businesses right now, looking ahead at what recovery might look like is a positive exercise.
One of the best resources for statistics is STR, the leading global provider of Hotel data and analytics.
Taking some learnings from recent STR Webinars, what they’re saying is that recovery will depend on the travel and social restrictions of the various governments and regions, on what stimuli governments offer and on the various risk factors. Their predictions on what areas of the industry are likely to recover first are logical:
Domestic (slow and safe)
Local. Weekend. Economy. Midscale
Corporate. Business Parks
Groups. Postponed Events
These are inline what we’d all think when considering the big picture.
If China’s data (below) is a guideline, then you can see the domestic travel pickup assuming a slow but steady occupancy increase. The Midscale and Economy hotels are outperforming the other sectors. While occupancy rates aren’t great, at least they’re increasing and also showing weekend spikes. It looks like that slow recovery growth will be the norm for most hotels for some months ahead.
