COVID-19
By Sharon Hirschowitz
Watching the COVID-19 crisis unfold has
been horrifying for the luxury hotel industry,
who has never experienced such a rapid and
sustained drop in demand and both small
boutique hotels and larger hotel brands are
maneuvering to survive an outbreak of this
magnitude.
Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive
officer of Marriot International, summed
up the COVID-19 crisis in a video message
March 19, 2020 as more severe for Marriott
International than the Great Depression and
World war 2 combined, and Chip Rogers,
President & CEO of the American Hotel &
Lodging Association (AHLA) characterized
it as far worse than the 2008 crash and
911 combined. What is evident is that the
devastation on the luxury hotel industry
is unprecedented and dire, with revenue
dropping down to single digits and thousands
of employees being furloughed for at least
60-90 days.
Sorenson went on to say that, “The travel
industry is being impacted in unprecedented
ways by COVID-19. As the virus and efforts
to contain it have spread around the world,
demand at our hotels has dropped significantly.
We are working tirelessly to take care of our
associates, our guests, our owners and our
other key stakeholders.”
end of May and Mark Hoplamazian, President
& CEO and Tom Pritzker, Chairman of the
Board, will forgo 100% of their salaries. The
proceeds of the funds will be distributed to
colleagues under financial stress due to loss of
income. Their intention is to keep their teams
as intact as possible so that they can spring
back efficiently when the hospitality industry
rebounds.
Chris Nasetta, CEO of Hilton will also forgo
his salary for the rest of 2020 and corporate
team members will not be furloughed but have
their salaries reduced by up to 20%. Marriott
CEO Arne Sorenson’s salary has also been
suspended for the rest of the year and senior
executive salaries will be reduced by 50%.
To quote Chris Nasetta, “In Hilton’s 100-year
history, we have never seen anything like the
current situation.”
Technology providers, World Cinema, have
set up a COVID-19 accounting task force
group run by Tisha, Accounts and Receivable
Manager and Kirstie, Senior Sales Support,
who are responding to customers at all
hours of the day and night, listening to their
concerns and providing properties with
financial options to assist them while this
pandemic is leaving their hotels partially or
totally closed.
Many are still eligible for healthcare and
most of their benefits will not change but
they can also file for unemployment benefits
during this period. Hyatt are setting up a
global Hyatt Care Fund, which will initially be
financed by 100 percent of Hyatt leadership
team’s salary reductions – the leadership
team is taking a 50% pay cut through the
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ILHA