Natural disasters, technological advancements and demographic factors always pose challenges to the entire world. The coronavirus (known as COVID-19) pandemic, on the other hand, has emerged into the most serious threat of the decade.
In December, 2019, Coronavirus, which is an infectious disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) and spread through droplets generated by an infected person’s sneezing or coughing, made it first appearance in Wuhan, China. Since then, this syndrome has been killing people on a large scale around the world as well as lasting health problems in some who have survived the illness. Thus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. In order to protect the citizens’ health and control the outbreak of the disease, governments have to lockdown their countries, which leads to an enormous effect on the economy as well.
It is undeniable that the global tourism and hospitality industry has always been one of the worst-affected industries by the local lockdowns, travel restrictions, shelter-in-place orders and regulations, which help the governments to control the pandemic. As a result of massive cancellations of flights, tours, events, and hotel reservations, as well as a decline in inbound travel, hotel occupancy rates and average room rates have plummeted, resulting in unprecedented profit margin declines. In Italy, 90% of all hotel reservations in Rome have been cancelled; and for a relatively small tourist destination like Ghana, hotel occupancy has dropped from 70% to under 30%, with some hotels recording as low as 5%. In addition, REVPAR in the hotel industry in the United States fell 11. 6 percent for the week ending March 7th, 2020. Vietnam has also exacerbated the problems of low occupancy and plunging revenues for hotels and resorts nationwide. In Ho Chi Minh City, occupancy rate has hovered under 20% since the lockdown in April, 2020, compared to 72% during the same period in 2019. According to Savills data, the resort market rarely exceeds 25%, with the exception of some properties in drive-to destinations, where it is 10 to 15 percentage points higher than the national average. e
Natural disasters, technological advancements and demographic factors always pose challenges to the entire world. The coronavirus (known as COVID-19) pandemic,
on the other hand
, has emerged into the most serious threat of the decade.
In
December, 2019
, Coronavirus, which is an infectious disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) and spread through droplets generated by an infected person’s sneezing or coughing, made it
first
appearance in Wuhan, China. Since then, this syndrome has been killing
people
on a large scale around the world
as well
as lasting health problems in
some
who have survived the illness.
Thus
, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. In order to protect the citizens’ health and control the outbreak of the disease,
governments
have to
lockdown
their countries, which leads to an enormous effect on the economy
as well
.
It is undeniable that the global tourism and hospitality industry has always been one of the worst-
affected
industries by the local lockdowns, travel restrictions, shelter-in-place orders and regulations, which
help
the
governments
to control the pandemic.
As a result
of massive cancellations of flights, tours,
events
, and
hotel
reservations,
as well
as a decline in inbound travel,
hotel
occupancy
rates and average room rates have plummeted, resulting in unprecedented profit margin declines. In Italy, 90% of all
hotel
reservations in Rome have
been cancelled
; and for a
relatively
small
tourist destination like Ghana,
hotel
occupancy
has dropped from 70% to under 30%, with
some
hotels
recording as low as 5%.
In addition
,
REVPAR
in the
hotel
industry in the United States fell 11. 6 percent for the week ending March 7th, 2020. Vietnam has
also
exacerbated the problems of low
occupancy
and plunging revenues for
hotels
and resorts nationwide. In Ho Chi Minh City,
occupancy
rate has hovered under 20% since the lockdown in
April, 2020
, compared to 72% during the same period in 2019. According to
Savills
data, the resort market rarely exceeds 25%,
with the exception of
some
properties in drive-to destinations, where it is 10 to 15 percentage points higher than the national average.
e