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COVID-19: Quarantine fee in NSW | Is Hawaii ready to reopen?

New South Wales quarantine fee: US$2,084

International travelers flying into New South Wales will pay A$3000 (US$2,084) for their two-week stint in hotel quarantine from midnight on July 18, no matter where they ordinarily reside in Australia. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the decision to charge all returning travelers, including Australian citizens, came after the national cabinet announced caps on the number of people arriving in Australia last week.

More from The Sydney Morning Herald

Is Hawaii ready to lift quarantine requirement?

Hawaii residents are divided on whether the state should reopen to visitors in August. Small business owners who rely on tourism as well as the hotel industry have been preparing to welcome more visitors next month. For the hotel industry and its thousands of employees, another delay would put their futures in limbo. But the recent spike in cases has some speculating that the date will get pushed back.

More from KITV

Hundreds of Scottish hotels won’t reopen in next phase

Hospitality industry chiefs have told Scotland that the prospect of a “mass opening” across the sector is unlikely. Polling indicates Scots are wary about returning to pubs and restaurants, leaving the industry with a long road ahead to get customers back through the door. The CEO of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association called the pandemic “catastrophic for the hospitality industry,” with an estimated £670 million (US$846 million) lost in revenue for Scotland’s pubs and bars since March.

More from The Scotsman

Destination management in the age of COVID-19

With most airplanes still grounded, hotels slowly recovering, investments on a standby and traveling in general limited, destination marketeers and managers are nowadays experiencing some of the most challenging times in their careers, according to Horwath HTL. The firm’s latest report, “Recovery Roadmap: Destination Management & Marketing Perspective,” discusses practical aspects of tourism management and marketing in preparing and adjusting destinations to the “new normal.”

Download the full report

Slight boost for Melbourne performance

Melbourne showed slightly higher hotel performance in June but the same significant level of year-over-year declines, according to preliminary data from STR.

Comparison with June 2019:

Occupancy: -53.4% to 34.0%  

ADR: -29.4% to A119.14 (US$83)

RevPAR: -67.1% to A40.52 (US$28)

Higher weekend demand from leisure travelers has helped push performance levels slightly above the consistent demand of quarantined returning travelers. June marked the first month that occupancy and RevPAR were above 30% and A40 (US$28), respectively, since March.

July’s performance is likely to be negatively impacted as Melbourne and Victoria have reinstated stage 3 stay-at-home restrictions through mid-August.

Dubai performance still relatively low

Dubai’s hotel industry reported slightly improved but still relatively low performance levels, according to preliminary June data from STR.

Compared with June 2019:

Occupancy: -60.8% to 26.3%

ADR: -28.9% to AED275.75 (US$75)

RevPAR: -72.2% to AED72.65 (US$20)

The ADR and RevPAR levels were up from May 2020, but the occupancy level was slightly lower than the month prior.

And record lows in London

STR’s preliminary data for London hotels showed record performance lows. ??Comparison with June 2019:

Occupancy: -74.4% to 23.0%

ADR: -59.2% to £72.48 (US$91)

RevPAR: -89.6% to £16.64 (US$21)

The absolute levels in each of the three metrics would be the lowest for any month on record in STR’s London database. STR analysts do not expect significant performance increases until restrictions are eased further in the U.K.

Butler utilizes ‘ghost kitchens’

New York-based food service platform Butler Hospitality is now offering a full dining menu with free delivery to hotel guests in over 30,000 rooms in New York City via operating out of four hotel “ghost kitchens” — a culinary team that operates out of four New York City hotel kitchens to provide meal delivery service to guests in other hotels. Butler has also expanded the list of hotels they work with and attracted over US$15 million in funding.

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