Expedia bookings down 90% from 2019
Expedia Group’s whopping 82% decline in revenue in the second quarter has indicated just how much devastation the coronavirus has caused in the travel sector. Shares dipped as much as 4.8% in post-market trading. The Seattle-based OTA reported total gross bookings of US$2.71 billion for the three-month period to June 30, a decline of 90% from the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell to US$566 million – the lowest it’s been in about a decade.
Beverly Hilton furloughs 580 workers
The Beverly Hilton has furloughed 580 workers since mid-March as the upscale hotel grapples with a sharp downturn in travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In three notices sent to the state Employment Development Department, parent company Hilton Hotel Employer said conditions were progressively worsening. The notices didn’t identify which jobs are affected, but the list likely includes front-desk workers, housekeepers, restaurant servers, cooks, security officers and a variety of other positions.
U.S. Congress pitches CMBS-related relief
A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Congress is intended as a lifeline for hotel and shopping center CMBS borrowers. The measure would provide preferred equity to borrowers hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, taking from a US$454 billion pool set aside for struggling businesses in the earlier stimulus bill. Roughly 10% of CMBS loans were delinquent by 30 days or more in June, according to data from Trepp.
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Operational challenges for reopening
A total of 438 GMs and senior executives took part in a two-week Forbes poll which surveyed on operational challenges for reopening. The top two? Adapting and maintaining luxury service levels within constraints of COVID-19 (64%); and budget or financing to manage the crisis and continue operating (62%). Despite ever-changing national and state government guidelines, 70% of hoteliers are still confident that business will return to sustainable levels within a year. At the time of the poll, 41% of hotels surveyed were still closed, with the majority of those planning to reopen in July (38%), August (18%) and September (15%). Of those closed, 58% divulged that a staggering 76-100% of staff were either furloughed or laid off, highlighting the pandemic’s devastating impact on luxury hospitality.
Hilton’s new meeting pitch
Hilton has launched a deal that allows customers additional flexibility around meetings and events. The offers applies now through December 31 for meetings or events taking place now through May 31, 2021. Customers who book the offer will receive:
- The Hilton EventReady with CleanStay elevated cleanliness and customer service standards for meetings and events, including meeting room seals, the EventReady Room Checklist and socially responsible meeting room sets
- Flexible cancellation, allowing short term meetings and events, with up to US$50,000 budget, to cancel without penalty up eight days in advance of arrival
- Double Hilton Honors event planner points, enabling planners to earn two points per US$1 spent on guest rooms, meeting rooms and more on qualifying events at participating hotels within the Hilton Honors Planner program
Over 100 cases found at Montana hotel site
Over 100 workers at the largest construction project in Montana have tested positive for COVID-19 over the month of July. The US$400 million ultra-luxury Montage Big Sky hotel site is now also ground zero for one of the largest outbreaks in the state.
Since July 8, when Suffolk Construction, the contractor building Montage began testing workers regularly at the project site, at least 116 workers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Witkoff SoBe hotel faces foreclosure
A lender is seeking to foreclose on a South Beach, Florida hotel owned by the New York-based Witkoff Group, alleging the developer failed to make its July payment on a US$45 million loan. Ladder Capital Finance filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the owner of the 181-room Washington Park Hotel and is seeking to collect the entire loan, along with interest and late fees. The lawsuit was filed on July 22 and is one of the largest foreclosure lawsuits in South Florida since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Trump revenue held steady last year
Revenue at the Trump Organization’s Washington, D.C., hotel and several of its biggest clubs and resorts mostly held steady last year before the coronavirus forced many to shut their doors and lay off workers, according to a financial disclosure report. The company’s vast properties and businesses – golf courses and hotels, office buildings and residential towers, and licenses to use his name among other services – generated revenue of more than US$440 million, little changed from 2018.
In Hawaii, a dispute over reopening
A Hawaii hotel workers union has started inspecting hotels for coronavirus readiness and say many aren’t yet ready to reopen safely. Local 5 said some managers failed to show them safety plans and many shuttered hotels didn’t yet have all the elements they need to welcome guests back. Hawaii hotels are ramping up for the reboot of the tourism industry on September 1.
Read more from Hawaii News Now
Impact on the South Korean hotels
HVS has conducted a survey about the pandemic’s impact on the South Korea hotel market. The survey looks at how properties in South Korea are reacting in response to drop of overall demands throughout contingency plans, as well as how experts in hotel operations are recognizing signs of recovery in addition to their outlook of the market in the future.
Employees test positive at Mallorca hotel
An outbreak has been detected among six staff members at the Iberostar Clun Cala Barca in Mallorca, Spain. So far, all other quarantined staff are asymptomatic. The hotel is still debating over whether or not guests staying at the hotel during that time would also have to be tested.
Booking.com’s incentive to rebook
Encouraging customers to rebook their original property, Booking.com will offer a 15% reward after their stay, valid for bookings made until December 31, with checkout date until April 30, 2021. The company is also waiving commissions on reservations made as part of this campaign.