the impacts of Covid-19 on the lodging and tourism industry VAN

I. The COVID-19 pandemic impacts the Tourism and Hospitality industry. On March 11th, 2020, the WHO announced this disease to be one of the worst threats to humanity and the global pandemic, which caused chaos across both domestic and international travelers, forcing them to cancel their bookings owing to the fact that of fears about the spread of Covid-19. This has left tour operators and other stakeholders unable to keep up, resulting in severe losses in a variety of areas. 1. The number of guest and The Cancellations Bookings When the blockade regulation, excursion restrictions, and flight bans have established, the occupancy rate of motels, resorts, and homestays plummeted rapidly, and the figure of canceled rooms and tours skyrocketed. Moreover, as a result of the government's demand that firms enable laborers to work from home, the figure of business clients also dropped rapidly. These have significantly affected on sales and revenues of the hospitality industry. According to Marriott International's latest business data, the tenancy scale in China fell almost 15% in March 2020, and the lease level in Europe and North America fell sharply to less than 25% from over 70% in the previous similar month (Research and Markets 2020). In Vietnam, there are millions of tourists in 2020 stopped or canceled their expeditions, with around 5 million international visitors, according to the report of the Department of Tourism (VNAT). The number of huge cities such as Hanoi had over 32, 000 guests cancel domestic trips, while Ho Chi Minh City saw over 35, 000 trek programs were canceled, including package tours, optional trek, supply as lodgings, flight tickets, and attractions. The majority of hotels and homestay companies have claimed that more than 90% of clients refuse their bookings, and travel agencies have also reported that more than 80% of tour cancellation clients have requested a 100% refund owing to the epidemic's complexity. As a result, billions of dollars have been lost in the lodging and tourism industry 2. The Domino Problems for the hotels and enterprise in the Industry Along with community lockdowns, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, travel and mobility restrictions, and other government strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve, the pandemic has impacted various aspects of the hospitality industry. These businesses have had to face huge damages with a series of related issues such as revenue losses, access to loans, investment limitations, and market limitations. 2. 1 Closed Operations Several lodging places areas such as hotels, hostels, cruises, which have resorted to shutting down and suspending operations as a reduction in number of customers at the facilities. Almost every restaurant has been instructed to confine its operations to take-out, and while food and beverage firms have seen major reductions in consumption and supply chain disruptions. Out-of-home consumption, which has historically provided the greatest margins, has nearly come to a halt. In addition, due to the impact of partial and even complete lockdowns in several nations, numerous huge international events such as Euro 2020 and the 2020 Summer Olympics have been postponed till next year. These findings give solid evidence that the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in massive losses for tourism commerce. 2 Investment Limitation Despite the lack of revenue and investment funds from other stakeholders, hotels and tourism businesses are forced to self-manage their finances in order to maintain and continue business operations and survive the pandemic. This significantly reduces the amount of money in the hotel's general costs. For examples, price of updating and maintaining buildings, customer rooms, and customer service equipment. Cleaning routines are still essential during the Covid-19 epidemic, but the protective equipment is more expensive, and the high time it takes is more difficult. 2. 2 Cut Hours, Salary, Workforce Because staffing expenditures account for 30-35 percent of a hotel's operational costs, the pandemic has prompted hotels to take unpaid leave, reduce working hours, and a huge number of employees. Personnel were also compelled to work from home in order to cut costs on their wages. With credit 75 percent below average, Marriott Hotel CEO Arne Sorenson had to make the tough decision to let off 4000 employees. However, the problems here are that individuals who are chosen in working may find it difficult to accept a job that is twice as demanding as normal while their salary is not increased but dropped. In several of the business in the industry, the top leaders down have even had their salaries cut. “From top management in my company, the top management conspired a pay cut of 35 – 50 % depending on job group, they have taken paucity and working from home. We are currently grumbling with how to structure the middle and low cadre of laborers because if someone is earning for such as ksh. 50, 000. I am not sure even at Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) how I’m going back to that person to agree on 30k or 40k. You ought to negotiate, one cannot dictate, its negotiable”, said the CEO of KTF. 2. 4 The Cost of laborer Safety Additionally, tourist business owners and managers are responsible to protect the safety of their workforce during the Covid-19 epidemic. Also, in order to avoid spreading the infection and keep hotel operations, these firms must cover the expenses of Covid-19 testing for their employees, but the prices have raised anxieties and created challenges for businesses. This is mostly due to the high overall cost of a single test, yet organizations still must test on a frequent basis. It's also one of the reasons hotels and companies have had to reduce their workforce and pay. 2. 5 Loans and Bankruptcy Fixed costs, such as rent, energy, insurance, internet, marketing, and advertising expenditures, will all have a detrimental impact on a hotel's bottom line due to the fact that cash flow is insufficient. The below-average revenue for many hotels is exceeded by spending. Thus, the world has witnessed the worst situations from the hundreds of well-known hotels, restaurants, homestays and resorts, which located in potential tourist attractions in a plethora of countries, consequently had to close down and declare bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the large number of small and medium tourist and hospitality businesses operate for less than a year have been forced to go bankrupt and sell their properties on the real estate market. The Workforce. 3. 1 The high rate of unemployment The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the unemployment rate of the workforce in the tourism industry to rise, which is considered a downturn in the tourism industry. To prevent the spread of the pandemic, organizations have had their laborers work from home at the request of the President. However, it only makes it more difficult for the tourism industry, and especially for employees who have to work in fear of reduced working hours, salary cuts and even unpaid leave. Moreover, because of insufficient cash flow, the owners and managers of these hotels and businesses also decided to reduce the company's workforce. The layoffs of casual workers such as lower-educated workers andemployees mean that they are expected to be laid off temporarily or longer than those with higher education. This causes not only a significant increase in the unemployment proportion in the countries, the quality of life of workers and their families is affected, but also reduces the needs of clients. 1. 2 Hotel Cleaners Due to Covid-19, housekeeping time has increased by an average of 15% per room. In large hotels, where there are large rooms and huge kitchen equipment, cleaning time has increased by 35%. Therefore, cleaning staff, hotel cleaners play a extremely essential role in the hospitality industry. Each housekeeper must follow new cleaning procedures, and exercise caution when cleaning rooms and other areas of the hotel. Therefore, if hotels, tourism businesses increase the reduction of casual staff and the cleaning does not satisfy guests, it will create a bad image for guests. 3. Change Customers’ Behaviors. It is true that travelers are now more ready than ever for a holiday as the globe adapts to COVID-19, on the contrary numerous intentions have been undermined by the realities of the global situation, and when the epidemic have still continued, the human must be accepted to live with it. consequently, the behaviors and professional requirements for tours of these customers would probably change, specifically for the service and facility quality. Customers tend to spend more money on a trip and, they are willing to spend on an independent, red travel tour, while ensuring their safety, from the spread of coronavirus. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) projected the growing popularity of luxury trips, freelance, and independent travel, and medical and health travel during the COVID-19 pandemic- 19 in 2021. However, this will be a enormous challenge for the lodging and tourism commerce where hotels, resorts, homestays and travel businesses are forced to update service quality and facilities as well as clean rooms. In addition, it still takes numerous time for hotels and traveler centers to improve and fully respond to medical standards when there are no budgets and revenues.