COVID-19 webinar summary: 5 key points on Asia (26 March)

COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on hotel industry performance. Mainland China and Asia as a whole were the first territories affected, however, COVID-19 continues to affect hotel performance across the globe.

As STR continues its commitment to keeping the hospitality industry updated during this difficult time, our webinar series will provide in-depth updates on global regions. However, if you’re unable to watch the full hour session during this stressful period, you can find a summary of the key points below.

Mainland China recovering slowly!

Occupancy has been increasing gently in Mainland China over the last few weeks. The market reached its lowest daily occupancy level (7.4%) on 6 through 8 February. Prior to that, daily occupancy in Mainland China was as high as 70.6% on 9 January.

Wuhan, a quick recovery

Wuhan, the epicentre of COVID-19, is a market that has seen a quicker recovery. Since the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, volunteers, military, doctors from other areas, etc. traveled to the city and led to an influx in demand for hotels in the market. However, over the past week, occupancy dropped due to volunteers returning home after the outbreak.

Singapore & Malaysia. What has been happening in Southeast Asia?

Markets in Southeast Asia have seen declines since Chinese New Year. However, occupancy declines in Singapore moderated on 14 February due to The Singapore Airshow (11 through 16 February 2020), a biennial aerospace event held in the city. Occupancy in Malaysia climbed to almost 50% after the country’s lockdown. Additionally, employers used hotels as accommodation for their workers.

Bangkok’s case

Bangkok occupancy suffered its steepest occupancy decrease over the last couple of weeks, reaching its lowest level (19%) in the week ending 22 March. Rates in the market have also declined slightly as mayoral restrictions have started in the market.

Vietnamese Grand Prix postponed

As we’ve seen in other markets around the globe, The Vietnamese Grand Prix, an important sports event, has been postponed. The occupancy decline in Vietnam has been rather steady, and RevPAR has been pushed down as a result.

Watch the full recording of this webinar here. For further insights into the impact of COVID-19 on global hotel performance, please visit our COVID-19 hub.