Impact of coronavirus on Asia/Pacific markets: Hotel markets in the Asia/Pacific region continue to see an impact on hotel occupancy as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, according to STR, parent company of Hotel News Now.
STR looked at 14 markets over a six-week period to determine the impact.
“With so much dependence on Chinese arrivals, it was anticipated that key markets around the region would see a negative impact from the coronavirus outbreak,” said Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director for the Asia/Pacific region. “In certain markets, we saw an almost immediate decline in occupancy levels in the early days of February. Already a low business travel period due to the Chinese New Year holiday, drops in occupancy were worsened in the wake of the World Health Organization’s announcement of a global health emergency on the 30th of January. The impact will likely continue until containment is reported and recovery begins.”
Tenerife hotel locked down following coronavirus case: In other coronavirus-related news, a hotel in Tenerife in the Canary Islands has been put in a lockdown following a visitor testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), according to the BBC.
The H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel, in the same part of the island as are the popular destinations of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, reputedly has approximately 1,000 guests in lockdown, according to another media outlet, Metro, which also stated that H10 hoteliers denied the hotel was “under quarantine.”
The guest reportedly found to be positive is an Italian doctor from the Lombardy region of Italy, one of two regions in Italy where authorities are clamping down on the movement of people due to an outbreak of the virus. The doctor has been taken to hospital.
Hotels promote ease of access outside major metros: Hotels in big cities attract guests because they are close to everything, but hotels outside of major metro areas are bringing in guests by offering easy access to transportation and extras such as free breakfast, HNN contributor Laura Koss-Feder writes.
For these hotels to drive business, it’s important to come up with revenue management tactics focused on price incentives and offer enhanced amenities and services.
“Most hotels will generally compete on price and amenities for guests when competing with a more popular urban location,” said David Sangree, president of Hotel & Leisure Advisors. “By offering more amenities, suburban hotels can set themselves apart and attract the more cost- conscious travelers by appealing to the extra costs often associated with staying in a larger urban location.”
San Jose hotel owner sues city over new hotel proposal: ML San Jose Holding LLC, which is the owner of San Jose, California’s historic Hotel De Anza, and the Preservation Action Council have filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that it violated the California Environmental Quality Act by approving the construction of a new hotel next to the Hotel De Anza, Mercury News reports.
The California Environmental Quality Act “requires both state and local agencies to consider the consequences of decisions that involve changes to the environment,” according to the news outlet, and the suit alleges San Jose did not research the impact the new-build hotel could have to the “integrity of the Hotel De Anza” when an environmental impact report was conducted for the hotel project.
The owners of Hotel De Anza are asking the city to undo approval of the new hotel and “redo the environmental impact report.”
New hotels coming to downtown Colorado Springs: Downtown Colorado Springs went years without any new-construction hotels, but now, “nearly half a dozen projects are underway or planned as developers are drawn by new business and attraction in the area, stronger tourism, lower borrowing costs and government tax breaks,” Out There Colorado reports.
One hotel opened in the downtown area in September 2019, another is slated to open in 2020 and two other hotels are under construction and expected to open in 2021.
“Combined, they would add nearly 900 hotel rooms in downtown, with well-known brands Hilton, Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Marriott International among the newcomers,” according to the news outlet.
Compiled by Danielle Hess.