In the year following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoteliers in the Asia-Pacific region had to react quickly to respond to the ever-changing conditions created by the virus.

During the “Asia-Pacific Executive Panel” of the online Hotel Data Conference: Global Edition, hotel executives from the region shared their experiences in managing their companies through the pandemic.

It was important to break down forecasts for the short term to midterm and then midterm to long term, because anything long term would change too much for realistic forecasting, Pan Pacific Hotels CEO Choe Peng Sum said. Past data isn’t useful now as hoteliers can’t benchmark how they used to, he said.

“Frankly, all the segmentation that we used to do, probably in the short term, we can throw it out the window as well,” he said.

His company created what it calls the War Room, where employees are working day and night going after the short-term trend, Choe said. Hotels in China have been doing well because of the stronger domestic demand, but there are other markets, such as Singapore, where the domestic demand is much smaller.

“We've thrown ourselves all the way into domestic marketing,” he said.

The short-term goal has been survival, Minor International Group CEO Dillip Rajakarier said.

“I think that’s our only goal we have today" — focusing short-term on resuming business, minimizing cash burn, reducing the break-even point and managing the balance sheet, he said.

Customer behavior has changed over the past several months, he said. Because of the volatile environment, bookings are almost all last-minute. Travelers are taking more domestic trips than long-haul flights. Newer trends are showing more people preferring staycations and extended stays as well as health and wellness experiences. The number of travelers aged 60 and older is growing as they try to visit with family and friends.

As both an owner and manager, Minor Hotels feels the pain of its partners, Rajakarier said, noting the company prioritized regular communication with its owners.

It hasn’t been an easy ride, as many hotels closed and Minor Hotels had to let go of several team members, he said. Hotel owners have had their own challenges, with banks to answer to and funding issues.

In Spain, where many of Minor's hotels are on leases, it wasn’t easy to speak with all of the landlords to get lease reductions, but they were supportive, Rajakarier said.

“They felt that this is the only way, because they looked at the long term, because we will come out of the pandemic,” he said. “There is going to be a long-term relationship, and therefore they will support us.”

Profits are among the most important things for franchisees, said Liu Xinxin, chief digital officer for Huazhu Group and president of Huazhu China. The company launched a gross operating profit program to help them. It also decreased fees for franchise owners and helped organize treasury support.

On top that that, the brand company focused on communicating with its franchise owners, even through in-person meetings and conferences, to provide support, she said.

“It was showing confidence for the market, the confidence for the next three years,” she said.