The COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented in its duration, severity and economic impact. Measures to contain the virus have created enormous economic strain, with the global travel, tourism and hotel industries especially affected.
As the crisis persists, many hotels are looking for opportunities to start repurposing assets or to find alternative uses for their assets. In many cases, it’s an adapt-or-die situation. Temporary-use and hotel conversion opportunities may very well offer solutions that will keep this critical sector afloat until the crisis passes.
Colin Hannan is a principal at Proven Partners, a hospitality consultancy based in Ireland.
Temporary-use solutions focus on repurposing hotel assets to meet the current needs of the market. While these opportunities may involve legal issues involving permitting, land use and zoning, as well as risk management and insurance requirements, they are worth considering when the survival of a business is at stake. A well-considered transition has the potential to preserve jobs, create a short-term source of income and potentially open new business pathways beyond the coronavirus. These include:
Medical and quarantine facilities: With the strong resurgence in COVID-19 cases in many countries, health care facilities have become flooded with new patients. Given the important requirements for care and quarantine of ill patients — as well as patients who have tested negative but are especially vulnerable to the virus — space is at a premium. Given their size, layout and amenities, hotels are ideally positioned to provide makeshift overflow hospital space, or else to provide quarantine for vulnerable patients, and self-quarantine space for incoming travelers.
Senior care spaces: Seniors are especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, placing those over 60 at higher risk of dangerous disease-related complications than almost anyone else. For senior care communities, this means implementing strict protocols for social distancing and isolation as cases in the community rise – creating a massive demand for secure spaces for seniors. For seniors living at home or with family members, moving into a secure space where they can self-isolate and be monitored without having to move into an assisted living community is also an important option, reducing the risk of coming into contact with the virus via their more resilient and active loved ones.
COVID-19 compliant co-working spaces: The workplace is another area under enormous pressure due to space considerations. While organizations can allow employees to work from home, this is not always the most practical or effective solution for businesses or staff. Hotels could be repurposed into sanitized, socially distant working spaces where businesses can continue to operate productively in accordance with strict COVID-19 guidelines. It also gives businesses a safe, alternative and cost-effective workspace in the event of having to close their offices.
Socially distant student housing: Around the world, student housing has been closed down or scaled back to meet COVID-19 guidelines, with local and international students left without a safe, sanitary space where they can learn remotely. Hotels may have the opportunity to provide this and the amenities students need in order to keep the academic year flowing as smoothly as possible.
Accommodation for first responders and frontline workers: Frontline workers like nurses, paramedics, doctors and caregivers are the most at risk for COVID-19 exposure. As a result, many need temporary accommodation, allowing them an opportunity to self-isolate from their families and to move around the country to provide additional support in hospitals, senior care homes and quarantine facilities. Bear in mind that it would be advisable to offer steep discounts to this uniquely valuable and overstretched sector of the global community. This may eat into revenues but nevertheless could help to pay some bills and protect some jobs while also generating positive goodwill in your community.
Multifamily living space: Instead of thinking short-term, some hotel owners may be attracted by the opportunity to convert into longer-term rental accommodation for families. With COVID-19 restrictions in place and uncertainty about what is to come, many people seeking a more permanent place to stay are looking for the comfort of home without the commitment of a long-term rental agreement or purchasing a property. Whether moving for work, to self-isolate or for temporary accommodation before resuming a post-pandemic house search, a hotel provides a unique temporary accommodation opportunity for families and individuals.
Before moving forward with a new business focus, it’s essential to assess the size and scope of potential future revenue streams. That may mean delving deeply into your data to find your baseline break-evens, developing a clear picture of potential revenue from each department and pulling together a full cost feasibility of any changes that may need to be made.
By assessing your hotel’s specific resources, needs and capabilities, as well as fitting the most viable temporary-use opportunity into your broader hotel marketing and business development strategy, you can create a path forward through these disruptive, uncertain times, and possibly even uncover opportunities for longer-term growth.