Trends

Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 701,000 in March, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent. These changes reflect the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and efforts to contain it. Employment in leisure and hospitality fell sharply, with smaller job losses in other industries.

As COVID-19 concerns and restrictions have intensified in India, the country’s daily hotel occupancy dropped to 11% during 23-29 March, according to preliminary data from STR.

The Indian hotels sector has been significantly impacted by Covid-19 as demand is at an all-time low. In our latest report, we have tried to quantify the impact, while discussing some immediate steps needed to help the sector get back on its feet.

The U.S. lodging industry was prepared for a slowdown in performance entering 2020. CBRE Hotels Research was projecting a 1.1 percent increase in RevPAR for the year. Even with this low level of revenue growth, there were certain factors that could have sustained – or at least cushioned the blow of minimal declines ­- the nine-year trend of profit growth for U.S. hotels since 2010.

Mainland China’s daily hotel occupancy reached an absolute level of 31.8% on 28 March, according to preliminary data from STR.

During the week of 22-28 March, Canadian hotel occupancy fell 76.1% to 14.8%, ADR decreased 25.1% to 109.66 Canadian dollars ($77.15) and RevPAR plummeted 82.1% to CA$16.23 ($11.42).

Reflecting the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. hotel industry reported significant year-over-year declines in the three key performance metrics during the week of 22-28 March 2020, according to data from STR.

For most hotels in North America, the sales team is entering week three of the Covid19 disruption. The first week or so was just crazy, as salespeople from all market segments endured a frantic wave of cancelations and postponements. Just as that wave was starting to pass, most sales leaders had to make the difficult move of furloughing or laying off sales staff to pare down the payroll costs.

That occupancy level came one day after the Peruvian government imposed a nightly curfew to combat the spread of COVID-19. STR’s most recent data for 22 March showed that just 13 of 100 rooms on average were occupied in the city.

From the beginning of 2020, Covid-19 spread in China and escalated into a global pandemic, impacting the travel, hotel, and catering industries. HVS Shenzhen Office combined existing market information and our own survey results, as well as the historical data, to determine the impact and provide an outlook on the Chinese hotel industry.