Quarantine stays conserving some resorts afloat

For the worst performing capitals like Sydney and Melbourne, the actual demand without quarantine stays could be around 25 percent, as Sydney had an occupancy rate of 30 percent and Melbourne of 38 percent in January.

“The capitals are to varying degrees, but overall still a long way behind [the performance] From regional properties to business trips and meetings starting at any volume, their occupancy will be at a challenging commercial level, ”said Burke told an online hotel investment conference.

As The Australian Financial Review revealed, some top city hotels have slashed asking prices for luxury rooms up to 50 percent to increase utilization.

In comparison, regional hotels enjoy higher occupancy rates as they benefit from the increase in stays as Australians, who typically travel between states or overseas, choose a vacation that is closer to where they live.

At the same HICAP conference, Pat Pacious, President and CEO of Choice Hotels International, one of the world’s largest hotel franchisors, said at the start of the pandemic that there are a number of hotel owners who are unwilling to enter into quarantine business due to the stigma, dated Virus.

But now that the virus has been better understood and concerns have been allayed, Mr Pacious said it presented an opportunity, although it was up to the owners to decide whether to start this type of business and set up their hotel to accommodate it.

Speaking more broadly about the pandemic, Mr Pacious said the focus at Choice is on “capturing the business that is out there”.

“In the US, we clearly outperformed our competitors on a quarterly basis and fell by only 30 percent on a revPAR basis (revenue per available room) for the full year. On average, the entire industry in the US was down 50 percent, ”he added.

“The same was true in Australia, where our hotels there outperformed their competition’s revPAR index by 8 percent in 2020.

“This is due to the efforts of our team members in Australia to help our owners find a business.

Mr. Pacious said he was very optimistic about the recovery in the hotel industry this year and beyond.

“Despite the fact that there is a virus out there, people have traveled further. The occupancy didn’t go to zero, ”he said.

“We focus on the medium-sized traveler who turned out to be very resilient.”

However, he agreed that it would be three years at the earliest before international travel returned to pre-COVID levels.