Trending
Rebound
starts in China
HOTELS ARE MOVING CAuTIOuSLY — AND HYGIENICALLY — TO REGROW BuSINESS pOST-CORONAVIRuS .
Contributed by Ron GluCkman
Wyndham Jingzhou in China
General Manager Alan He likens Wyndham Hotel Jingzhou to a fortress that withstood a siege . Only two hours by road from Wuhan , epicenter of the global COVID-19 pandemic , the only high-end hotel in this small city shut down along with much of China in January . It reopened in April .
“ The virus was the enemy ,” he says . “ This was like a fort .” He hunkered down with 40 of his 215 staff , doing repairs and retraining as occupancy plunged to zero . “ It was a disaster ,” he concedes . Yet , following the lifting of 11-week restrictions on April 10 , guests were trickling back . “ And bookings for May are picking up ,” he says . “ Everything is opening up again .”
A few months ago , nobody would have projected that China would be back in business while most of the world is still battling the pandemic .
“ We think local tourism will be the immediate focus ,” He says of the sentiment shared by other China hoteliers . Early reports indicate that domestic travel will initially dominate China business and fuel the recovery , with international travel , meetings and conferences to follow .
STR reported an almost 90 % decline in occupancy across China after the country imposed severe containment measures to control the spread of the coronavirus early this year . Not all properties and areas of China were uniformly impacted , but by the end of March , STR reported occupancy had rebounded by about 30 %. Early data shows the recovery is strongest among weekenders , and middle and economy classes of travel , according to Christine Liu , STR ’ s regional manager for North Asia .
Messaging never stopped IHG closed nearly 180 properties in China , but by the end of March , twothirds were back in business . Marriott International reported 90 hotels closed in mid-February , but two-thirds reopened a month later . Business is slowly recovering , according to a Marriott spokesperson in China , where occupancy rose to 25 % in mid-April .
Luxury brands dependent on international corporate and leisure travel are rebuilding in novel ways . “ We are leading with our F & B ,” says Stefan Leser , CEO of Langham Hotels International , Hong Kong . “ There ’ s a lot of pent-up demand for going out .”
Social media also has been leveraged to reconnect with customers , in creative fashion . “ Live streaming is becoming a new trend for the hotel industry in China ,” says Karena Liu , senior manager , corporate communications for IHG Greater China . The hotels have offered music programs , chef talks and meetings — and even live-streamed weddings . Besides keeping potential customers engaged , they have proven incredibly popular with locked down residents .
Marriott began live streams of Chinese culinary director Leo Cao demonstrating how to cook 5-star feasts , at home , watched by nearly 175,000 people at a time . W Hotels hosts online music parties with its hottest DJs . IHG also posted videos of chefs teaching cooking classes , as well as bartenders mixing cocktails and gym trainers offering home workout tips . One video by celebrity chef and brand ambassador Shuwei Lin received over 500,000 likes on Tik Tok , a top mobile video app in China , Liu says .
Hygiene prioritized Cleanliness and safety concerns have moved to the forefront . “ Sanitizer
8 hotelsmag . com June 2020