Major Brands Offer Relief in COVID-19

Major global hotels brands have implemented a number of fee reducttions and relaxed several standards and initiatives amidst the coronavirus outbreak

Marriott

• Fee Relief

  50.0% credit for the fixed portion of the PSF for April and May ,with payment deferred until 9/1/20

  60.0 -70.0% reductions in shared services costs ,including RMAS and Field Marketing

• Cycle Renovations

  Deferring all cycle renovations that are due in 2020 by one year

• FF&E

  Walving required funding of FF&E reserves for six months with ability to borrow FF&E for working capitals needs,with lender consent as needed

• Brand Standards /Initiatives

  Guest Satisfaction Surveys will be suspended for Wave 1,2020(1/1-6/30)

  Deferred all brand and global initiatives with only mission -critial areas

• Audits and PIPs

  Brand Standard Audit activities are paused until 6/30/20 .This include BSAs asa well as audits for beverage and experientials

• Meeting & Training

Paused all mandatory ,in-person,off-site training classes and will instead leverage Digital learing Zon

Hilton

• Fee Relief

  RMCC hotels -50.0%fee for 90 days for any hotels with occupancy <50.0% over that time period

  Suspended RMCC hotels will receive a 75.5% fee reduction while out of operation

  Temporary suspension of guest assistance intervention fees

• Cycle Renovations

  Awaiting Annoucement

• FF&E

  Does not have an FF&E reserve in franchise agreement

• Brand Standards /Initiative

  SALT scores have been suspended

  Reassessing compliance dates for technology refreshes ,as well as suspending all OnQ refreshes for atleast 60 days

  Deferring the launch of several product initiatives as well as extending compliance dates until further notice

• Audits and PIPs

  For any items due in 2020 -there is a potential to extend by 12 months

  It will adjust the frequency to accommodate the current business climate,QA penalities waived for 2020

• Meeting & Training

  All in-person training will be put on hold until after June .Those who require training to do so via Hilton University online where appropriate

  IHG

• Fee Relief

  Fee Relief and Fee deferral options from 3/1/20-5/31/20 (excluding KIpton Hotel & Restraurants )

  SERVICE CONTRIBUTRION :50% discount throuGH 5/321 and deferrable for 90 days

  Technology fee :25 .0 % discount 5/31

• Cycle Renovations

  Mid -cycle renovatios are deferred until 1/21

• FF&E

  Waiving FF&E and Capital reserve requirement through 12/31/20

• Brand Standards /Initiative

  Love scrores remain in operation

  IHG will defer the publication of any new standard until 11/20

  Relaxing brand standard in Multiple areas ,including F&B Operations,Training, Technology and Loyalty ,with compliance dates extented to later this year and others into 2021

• Audits and PIPs

  Any PIP milestone dates due between now and 12/31/20 ,will get a nine month extention to that due date

• IHG is currently designing vir]tual touchpoints to support cleanliness and brand safely standard until 6/30/20

  Meeting & Training

• IHG will suspend all in-person training and move to all -virtual training sessions.Cancellation fees will be waived for current registered courses ,the training credit standard for hotels will be reduced by 25%

  Hyatt

• Fee Relief

  Centralized Revenue Management Fee (applicable to all select service proporties participating in Hyatt’s CRM services)

  50% relief in April and May or $775 per month .

• Cycle Renovations

  Deffering all cycle renovations that are due now through 6/30/21

• FF&E

  Deferring FF&E deposits for the remainder of 2020.Hotels may use the amount on deposit in replacement funds to cover general operating expenses ,which may be subject to lender approval

• Brand Standards /Initiative

  All brand initatives with budgetary implication will be postponed for the remainder of 2020

  For hotels with temporary suspended operations post surveys will restart upon resuming business operations

  For operating hotels -Hyatts surveys will restart on 5/31/20

• Audits and PIPs

  Will suspend formal brand standard audit activities for 2020,and will suspend PIPs,as approved by Hyatt,through 12/31/20

• Meeting & Training

  Suspended all in-person and off-site Hyatt meeting and training classes ,and will instead leverage Hyatt connect and digital training tools to conduct all manadotory and recommended training .

Should Hotels Consider Resuming Google Ads and Other Search Campaigns? - PhocusWire

After the brutal shock to the travel industry due to the coronavirus crisis, the vast majority of hotels stopped or questioned all their investments in online marketing, mainly Google Ads and metasearch.

This decision made a lot of sense given the severity and exceptional circumstances of the moment.

Investment fell 80% in the second half of March, compared to the first half, and 90% when compared to the same period in 2019 - figures that correspond with those in a Cleveland Research report.

They illustrate the huge concern that hotels face and new variables to consider that did not exist before:

• Cash flow. In the current situation, one of the objectives of any company, including hotels, is maintaining the highest possible amount of cash. The vast majority of investments in online marketing are paid in advance and that is a problem now.

• Uncertainty. Most hotels have no idea yet when they can reopen. They have tentative dates that are pushed back as the days go by. It is impossible to forecast if the gradual reopening of hotels will start in June or September. Given this great uncertainty, how can we risk investing in a model such as CPC (cost per click) without a guarantee of conversion and that, above all, those reservations will not be cancelled?

• Profitability. Many hotels anticipated that their campaigns would not be profitable in this situation and, when facing this, the best thing is to pause it all.

Airbnb fires contractual workers, postpones undergrad hiring

It will also reportedly delay hiring undergrad hiring until 2021. It informed workers that they will be receiving notices from their third-party agencies. Some of the workers said even their managers appeared to have no prior information of the layoffs and has terminated contingent workers’ contracts early

TC’s Natasha Mascarenhas has since learned StubHub, Glassdoor, Funding Circle and Checkr have also cancelled their respective internships.

TechCrunch has since heard from an incoming intern that he was notified and that he’s now scrambling to find a new internship

These personnel changes come just one day after Airbnb secured a $1 billion loan. Earlier this month, Airbnb raised an additional $1 billion in debt and equity.

Zoom now worth more than American Airlines ,Expedia ,Hilton combined

Teleconferencing app Zoom is now valued more than the market capitalization of three billion -dollar travel and hospitality companies in the US .As of April 17,Zoom had a market value of American Airlines ,Expedia and Hilton stood at $ 34 billion .

It gained over$200 million daily users in March during worldwide lockdowns.

Choice Hotels International Provides COVID-19 Business Update - March 8th

Choice Hotels International, Inc. provided an update on the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on its business.

"Today, as it has been for more than 80 years, their primary focus remains on the health and well-being of our guests, franchisees and associates

It has been through challenging times before and, each time, the company has always emerged stronger given its long-term focus, proven brands, high-caliber associates and broad franchisee base."   

Balance Sheet, Liquidity and Mitigation Plans 

The company continues to benefit from its primarily franchise-only business model, which has historically provided a relatively stable earnings stream and low capital expenditure requirements. 

In addition, management and the Board of Directors have taken steps to adjust the company's cost structure and increase its financial flexibility, which include, but are not limited to, the following actions:

• Reduced the compensation of the Board of Directors, chief executive officer and other executive officers for the remainder of 2020.

• Implemented a hiring freeze except with respect to certain critical positions, suspended associates' 401(k) match and implemented a temporary furlough for certain positions in Europe, where government-mandated and other closures have been more prevalent.

• Eliminated, reduced or deferred non-essential expenditures, discretionary capital expenditures and investments.

• Suspended the company's share repurchase plan.

• Determined to suspend future, undeclared dividends for the remainder of 2020.

  March Performance

  Domestic occupancy levels were below 50% for the month of March and softened in the last ten days of the month to trend in a range between 26% and 33% daily occupancy. These occupancy trends have continued in early April with over 90% of the company's domestic branded hotels continuing to operate at this time.

  While the company believes that the long-term fundamentals of the business remain strong, it will continue to adjust business contingency plans as the COVID-19 crisis evolves. The company continues to monitor the situation closely and intends to provide further commentary during the first quarter 2020 earnings call.

Online auction of record-breaking whisky collection hit by cyber-attack

A record-breaking online auction of rare whiskies has been postponed indefinitely after being targeted in a cyber-attack.

The sale of Richard Gooding’s “The Perfect Collection” was marketed as “the largest and most unprecedented private whisky collection ever to be offered for public sale”.

The first phase of the auction, consisting of more than 1,900 bottles, fetched more than £3.2m earlier this year.

The second phase of the auction, made up of 1,958 lots, went up on the Whisky Auctioneer website on 10 April.

One of the world’s most sought-after whiskies, the Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare 60 Year Old, was expected to fetch more than £1m at the auction.

“The website is currently offline whilst we continue to actively investigate this. The auction of The Perfect Collection: Part Two has been postponed indefinitely with further updates on this and future auctions to follow.”

During the first phase of the sale, Whisky Auctioneer became the first site to sell a million-dollar bottle, with several other lots achieving world record hammer prices.

Hotels in the Middle East And Africa Report Steep Performance Declines for March 2020

Showing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels in the Middle East and Africa reported steep declines across the three key performance metrics in March 2020, according to data from STR.

U.S. dollar constant currency, March 2020 vs. March 2019

Middle East

• Occupancy: -51.5% to 35.6%
• Average daily rate (ADR): -19.3% to US$114.88
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -60.8% to US$40.86

Africa

• Occupancy: -51.6% to 31.1%
• ADR: -6.4% to US$102.09
• RevPAR: -54.7% to US$31.72

Both the Middle East and Africa saw their lowest absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels for any month on record.

Local currency, March 2020 vs. March 2019

United Arab Emirates

• Occupancy: -49.2% to 41.4%
• ADR: -27.6% to AED411.92
• RevPAR: -63.2% to AED170.57

The absolute occupancy level was the lowest for any month in STR’s United Arab Emirates database. Key markets in the country, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, recorded steep declines in occupancy, -35.6% and -54.7%, respectively.

South Africa

• Occupancy: -45.1% to 37.0%
• ADR: -4.4% to ZAR1,264.83
• RevPAR: -47.5% to ZAR468.02

The absolute occupancy level was the lowest for any month in STR’s South Africa database. At the market-level, Cape Town experienced a drop in occupancy of 46.5%.

So Long, Minibar: How the Coronavirus Will Change Hotel Stays - NBC

A hotel that doesn't include a breakfast buffet and minibars would have been inconceivable to many Americans three months ago. But coronavirus has changed all that.

Hotel experts predict that the pandemic will drastically alter hotel stays in coming months, prompting many properties to embrace a host of new practices, up to and including temperature checks upon guests' arrivals.

The Four Seasons' guinea pig journey began last month, when H. Ty Warner, the property's owner, said he would open his hotel's doors to medical professionals working on the COVID-19 battlefront. The announcement set into motion a series of moves that have overhauled the hotel's standard operating procedure.

"We now have almost no touch points in the entire hotel, which is completely against a hotel's nature of being hands-on and kind," Tauscher said. "We used to be known for the human touch — but now we're all about no touch at all."

Check-ins and check-outs are performed virtually, with no human-to-human contact. Elevator rides are limited to one guest per car. Room service has been discontinued, and the hotel's restaurant, bar and complimentary coffee station are closed indefinitely.

The hotel's new dining option: pre-made boxed meals, available in an industrial refrigerator in the lobby.

KFC India to provide 1 Million Meals to Feed Communities in Need

KFC India announced, that it has pledged to donate at least 1 Million meals to help communities in need during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. These meals will be provided to migrant workers and daily wage earners struggling to earn a livelihood and afford meals during the extended lockdown.

Supported by the Yum! Foundation, KFC India will be funding these meals.

KFC has partnered with ResponseNet to work with impacted communities in need across Delhi, Assam, Bangalore, Mumbai, Jharkhand and other states. ResponseNet will be disseminating kits of essential food and necessity items as rice, flour, pulses, cooking oil, spices, etc. in the identified regions.

 KFC India has also made the following commitments to support its people and communities during the ongoing pandemic.

Thanking frontline warriors - Healthcare workers: KFC is committed to serving more than 10,000 thank you KFC meals to healthcare workers at hospitals across Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Employee well-being : Yum! Brands Foundation has set up the Global Employee Medical Relief Fund, to provide financial support for KFC team members at company and franchise-owned restaurants all across the world, who may be diagnosed with or who are caring for someone diagnosed with COVID-19.

Continuing to serve consumers through Safe & Contactless Delivery: Consumers can avail the Contactless Delivery option on prepaid orders, thereby ensuring no up-close contact with our delivery riders at the time of receiving the food, including exchange of cash.

KFC continues to implement stringent measures as regular temperature checks, intensified sanitization of surfaces at the restaurants, social distancing, even in the kitchens, etc. across all restaurants

Panic pricing won’t work for big hotels

We urge the stakeholders of the hospitality industry not to reduce their prices less than 5% of their original rates,” said Nirav Gandhi, Director of Express Group of Hotels and Executive Committee of FHRAI.

He was moderating a webinar organised by the industry body, The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India, on ‘Survival to revival, restart and resume operations’.

Delna Jasoomoney, Associate VP-Travel industry Sales & Luxury Partnerships for Taj Hotels and Resorts, who was also present in the panel, said that the industry should not go for panic pricing crashing the rates. “Dropping the prices down won’t make a difference. Apart from offering our customers less price we should try to offer best value. We also need to be flexible with policies and cancellations,” she said.

Jasoomoney mentioned that IHCL has ensured that they keep the engagement with their customers very strong even during the crisis. According to her, there will be a pent up demand once things normalise. She also mentioned that most of the outbound travellers will now hesitate to fly abroad, thus opening up a big avenue for hoteliers to channelise those travellers into inbound travel.

Dropping the price down is not a viable option that big giants are looking for, but for individual or small chain hotels, it might be the only option left to cope with the dire situation. 

Covid-19 Crisis: Value engineering for hotels is the key

The engineering department of a hotel holds great importance for a property to function efficiently. By providing utility services like electricity, steam, hot water, air-conditioning and refrigeration and maintaining engineering and services of various other equipment, the chief engineers are undoubtedly the backbone of a hotel

Chief engineers across all hotels in the country are figuring out ways to keep their hotel operating and running smoothly, post lockdown.

Sanitisation for us will be the most important aspect. We may look forward to adding more toilets around the properties. Even when we start operating, we would go with 50% of the workforce at a time

The virus becomes suspended in droplets smaller than five micrometres, known as aerosols, it can stay suspended for about a half-hour, before drifting down and settling on surfaces where it can linger for hours.The finding on aerosol, in particular, is inconsistent with the World Health Organization’s position that the virus is not transported by air. This has opened up a whole new sphere for engineers to work on.

We as engineers have to ensure that air inside a room or a public space like a lobby or restaurants, keeps changing. More air handling units will have to be installed in hotels. Instead of taking the air back, there should be a provision of pumping fresh air” said Rothin Banerjee, Director - Engineering, Taj Palace, New Delhi.

For Rahul Singh Sisodia, Director - Engineering JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi, value engineering in the current situation is the key as a huge amount of liquidity and cash flow is needed to ensure the efficiency of a hotel.

OYO owners dub Covid-19 impact assistance by the company as hogwash

OYO, the largest aggregator of budget hotels in the country, is claiming that the hotel company has initiated a slew of initiatives to financially support OYO owners “to blunt the Covid-19” impact, the hotel owners are not ready to accept the claim at its face value.

The hotel owners suspect the content of the offer which the company has released through the media, is another ploy to “dupe” them to stay put in their assets

 OYO had said that the company, in order to “lessen the burden of payments due and accrued”, will waive off multiple charges like value added service charges, wizard membership accruals, etc. from March onwards from the owners. “Under these initiatives, a total of INR 24 crore discounts has already been offered to over 3000 OYO partners and continues to impact several others,”

Covid-19 support incentives to owners include weekly payments and reconciliation, reduced joining fee and complimentary top up for those who want to join OYO Secure programme, retention linked incentives ranging from 50% starting from April, etc.

The asset owners also question the attempt by OYO to garner brownie points in the name of CSR by offering hotels for covid-19 quarantine purposes to government and disaster management authorities while the company is not paying any rental or minimum guarantee.

 Oyo staff in India to go on leave with limited benefits from May 4 for four months, and also asked all employees in the country to accept a cut in their fixed salaries by 25% due to the impact of the Covid-19 on the hospitality industry

Sentiment Survey: Australian Hotel Industry and the Impact of Covid-19 - By Damien Little

This sentiment survey was conducted by Horwath HTL Singapore, in partnership with AHS Advisory, to gauge the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotels across Australia. 

Key findings of the report include:

• The majority of hotels in the survey (67%) are planning to remain open. This is a higher ratio than had initially been expected heading into the survey. A greater proportion of Hotels located in Regional markets (69%) are planning to stay open compared to their State Capital counterparts (65%) despite the fact that a greater proportion of participating Regional hotels have already closed.

• The majority of survey participants expect the impact of COVID-19 to be long-term, thus, occupancy performance is expected to start rebounding only in Q4 2020. There is no noticeable difference in the trend of occupancy expectations among properties, regardless of location, although hotels in Melbourne expect Q3 2020 to record lower performance than Q2 2020. This could be due to the looming amount of new supply to enter the market.

• Unsurprisingly, domestic-sourced demand segments are expected to recover faster, since there is more uncertainty surrounding the return of international travel. This strongly aligns with Australia being a predominant domestic hotel market.

Mandarin Orchard Singapore to Rebrand As Hilton Singapore Orchard

OUE Limited and OUE Commercial REIT Management Pte. Ltd. have collaborated to rebrand the landmark Mandarin Orchard Singapore to Hilton Singapore Orchard, following a comprehensive and strategic review.

OUE, which is the master lessee of Mandarin Orchard Singapore, has entered into a Branding and Management Agreement with Conrad International Management Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. to rebrand Mandarin Orchard Singapore into Hilton's flagship in Singapore.

Asset enhancement works to add new meeting facilities as well as refreshed food and beverage offerings to cater to the growing demand for regional and global meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition ("MICE") events have also been planned. The planned refurbishment will be conducted in phases and will commence in 2Q 2020 to capitalise on the current challenges facing the hospitality industry due to COVID-19. The refurbishment is scheduled to be completed by end-2021.

Upon its relaunch in 2022, the hotel will feature 1,080 well-appointed rooms and five restaurants and bars including an all-day dining restaurant. The hotel will also boast meeting and function spaces spanning a total of 3,765 square metres, including three ballrooms

48% of Americans Canceled Summer Travel Due to Coronavirus Concerns

Uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic has caused nearly half (48%) of Americans to cancel their summer travel plans for this year leading to more distress for the travel industry

Here's what our survey found:

• 46% of those who had upcoming travel plans lost money on nonrefundable deposits and cancellation fees, averaging $854.30 per person. Most of the lost costs came from airline tickets (59%) and hotel rooms (44%).

• The coronavirus pandemic is changing consumers' views about travel. Forty-three percent feel more negatively about the industry as a whole, and many will change their behavior as a result. For example, 55% said they're less likely to take a cruise once the pandemic is over, and 52% are more fearful of overseas travel.

• 1 in 4 Americans are planning a celebratory trip once the threat of the coronavirus disappears, especially millennials, Gen Xers, parents of children under 18 and six-figure earners.

• 40% of consumers said they're more likely to purchase travel insurance for future trips due to the coronavirus. However, 18% said the health crisis made them less likely to consider insuring their future trips.

Here's how hotels are redefining the tea experience for their guests while adding to their revenues

The entire process of growing, hand-picking of leaves, careful sorting and harvesting is fascinating and a premium-grade cup of tea commands a fitting price

Tea is not just therapeutic, but great to taste, besides being zero calories.” The rise and rise of gourmet tea Hotels serving teas beyond the regular Earl Grey and Darjeeling have helped popularise gourmet teas. Cafes and restaurants in hotels now serve single estate teas and unique blends

The making of a gourmet tea

Brewing a good cup of chai is an art and everything lies in how well it is balanced. Bala Sarda, Founder & CEO, Vahdam Teas believes gourmet tea is much like fine wines

At the Emperor Lounge, The Taj Mahal Hotel - Mansingh Road, 26 tea varieties are served, from Panch Dhatu Tea to Rooibos Apple

“A good cup of tea should be brewed at the right temperature, served in beautiful teacups from a stunning teapot, and feel fresh to the palette.”

As wellness finds its way to the centrestage of people’s lives, particularly after the COVID-19 scare, tea, with its various health benefits, will find increased acceptance.

The hotel tea experience 

At Port Muziris, Kochi, A Tribute Hotel by Marriott, guests are treated to an unusual tea tasting session at Kettle, the tea lounge. The cellar holds several varieties of teas inspired by Muziris’ spices and floral heritage. Jasmine, a common flower around these parts, lends itself to a delicate tea. Hibiscus-imbued tea leaves, a green variant flecked with saffron, the not-to-be-missed blue tea made by infusing tea leaves with the butterfly blue pea flower, and lavender-infused teas are part of the extensive cellar.

The cellar at Port Muziris, Kochi, A Tribute Hotel by Marriott, holds several varieties of teas inspired by Muziris’ spices and floral heritage.

With Mister Chai, we went all out to ensure that the typical chai time is a far more luxurious experience.” Among its offerings is Kali Mirch Chai, served with the Colaba Fish Fry Sandwich. ITC Maurya's rooftop Pan-Asian restaurant - Tian, asked Anamika Singh of Anandini Tea to work with its chef de cuisine to put together a tea-paired menu. The hotel now has a regular teatime service delivered at the room by designated butlers, exclusively for those who check-in at the women-only Eva Floor. For its executive floor guests, it has a dedicated tea lounge named Samaya, where the house blends are particularly popular.

The Lounge & Terrace on the lobby level of Four Seasons, Bangalore introduced the rarefied experience of loungy, relaxed afternoon teas to Bengaluru. In-house tea sommelier Mousumi Sharma has put together blends such as Apple Cinnamon Dust, Wild Berry Tales, Chocolate Mint and Orange Blossom, along with the classic

The art of pairing

Nair believes that each tea has its defined list of food accompaniments. High-Tea in Britain is said to be an extravagant and lavish affair,  accompanied by garden sandwiches,  scones, tarts, pies and cake. The rise and rise of High-Tea show how widely appreciated and accepted this mid-evening meal is.

The art of pairing the right food with the right cup of tea requires the sommelier to have some practice and a well-defined, sensitive palette

They  are best paired with very light food  such as white fish like sea bass or mild cheeses and desserts. Pakoras or a hot plate of vegetarian fritters go incredibly well with a piping cup of spiced chai, according to Samuel Massey, Director of Food &Beverage,Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka.

Ranjit Batra, President – Hospitality, Panchshil Realty pens his view on the emerging new order in hospitality

The hotel industry will see a paradigm shift in the post-COVID-19 world. We will soon be referring to it in terms of BC and AC — Before COVID and After COVID. A lot of people compare the resilience of the hotel industry during the SARS epidemic and the 2018 financial crisis, and it eventually got back after a lag of a couple of years.

Most of them believe — taking cues from the fact that almost 85% of hotels in China have opened now — that it will see a V-shaped recovery. I think that is a pipe dream. SARS was an epidemic and affected only 26 countries.

In India, the entire country was placed under lockdown at a snap of the finger. This will have a significant impact on all the key stakeholders — owners, operators and customers. There will be some short-term impact and some long-term structural changes.

HVS India estimates hotel revenues in India to decline by anywhere between $8.5billion and $10 billion in 2020, not to mention the job losses. Let us take the impact on different stakeholders.

THE OWNERS

Indian owners will be staring at a loss for 2020, with a glimmer of hope that 2021 at least sees them break even. Taking a cue from HVS estimate of revenue loss and assuming average NOP margins of 25% to 30%, the owners would be staring at a loss of NOP of almost $2.5 billion to $ 3 billion. The owners will also have to bear the opening cost, once the hotels are ready to open after the lockdown.

THE OPERATORS

Operators have long maintained that their interest is aligned to that of owners as their fees are tied to revenues and net profits. However, it will be interesting to see whether the operators step up to the plate and ease the financial burden of the owners, especially when most of the owners are at their wit's end. The test of a relationship is always in hard times only.

It will be interesting to see how the relationship between the operators and their employees will pan out, with some operators choosing to seek pay-cuts from their employees, while some choosing to stand by them, making sure there are no pay-cuts and insisting that owners toe the line

THE CUSTOMERS

The increase in a web-based meeting on the likes of Zoom and CISCO WebEx, coupled with the shift towards work-from-home, will lead to business travel being curtailed to a large extent in the near future. Hotels, mainly dependent on business travellers, will require significant time before their occupancies see some traction. Usually, domestic leisure destinations should rebound first, with domestic travel restrictions being eased first.

THE WAY FORWARD

The future will belong to the owners with a stronger balance sheet and operators who stand by the owners. The customers will vote with their feet for hotels that they feel safe in and care about the environment.

OYO Cuts 25% Salary Companywide, After Furloughs

Gurugram-based hospitality unicorn OYO Hotels and Homes has now asked its employees to “accept” 25% salary deduction as it looks to overcome the impact on revenue from the Covid-19 pandemic.It  will be effective for April-July 2020 payroll.

OYO has decided to put some employees on leave with limited benefits from May 4, 2020 to August 2020. The benefits would include medical insurance and parental insurance, school fee reimbursement, and ex gratia support.

The development comes amid reports that OYO has told its UK employees that more employees would be furloughed under the government’s job retention scheme. High earners are also being asked to take a temporary pay cut.

OYO group CEO Ritesh Agarwal had earlier asked employees to go on temporary leave and had offered to look after the medical and healthcare benefits of all the employees across all its regions.

Agarwal has also forgone his salary for the year and senior leadership have been asked to take a 25% from the salary. Other Senior Executives across the world have voluntarily contributed 25%-50% of their salary.

As OYO tries to cut employee costs, the company is offering support to its hotel partners. The startup claimed that it has waived off multiple charges which are paid by partner hotels from March onwards. A benefit of around INR 24 Cr has been offered to over 3000 OYO partners.

OYO has also partnered with multiple lending institutions including fintech startups, NBFCs, add private sector banks to facilitate adequate financing for hotel transformation, Capex and working capital requirements of hotel-partners.

A retention linked discount has also been launched for a few hotel partners. It ranges from 50% on base fees for April and May. For beyond April, OYO might offer an extended discount until June.

IHG to open first Regent hotel since brand acquisition

IHG (Inter Continental Hotels Group) announces the signing of a management agreement with Shanghai 21st Century Hotel Co., Ltd. for its iconic property located in Lujiazui, Shanghai, China.

From 16 May 2020, the hotel will be officially branded as Regent Shanghai Pudong and ready to welcome guests with a truly unique and luxury experience, which the legendary brand is famous for. All existing reservations will be automatically forwarded and honoured by Regent Shanghai Pudong.

Expanding its luxury footprint, IHG announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Regent Hotels & Resorts in March 2018 and brought the much-loved brand into the top end of its portfolio. Since then IHG has worked quickly to combine its expertise in luxury with Regent’s deep heritage and revered legacy, relaunching the brand by evolving it to appeal to the modern luxury traveller.

Renovation is already underway to rebrand the iconic InterContinental Hong Kong into a Regent hotel in 2021, bringing the hotel back to its roots as it first opened its doors as a Regent in 1980.

In addition, the brand is also expecting new openings in Phu Quoc, Vietnam later this year, Bali, Indonesia in 2021, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as well as Chengdu, China in 2023.

Starbucks prepares to reopen stores and have employees return to work as company predicts 'normal operations' in the US by June

Starbucks announced that it is preparing to reopen stores across the United States and hopes to resume normal operations in June. 

 Kevin Johnson, CEO said Starbucks will use different formats and timing to reopen stores after some shuttered and others limited operations amid the coronavirus lockdown. 

Starbucks, unlike grocery stores and hospitals, was not permitted to stay open after stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines were mandated. 

'This is prompting many to define the next steps that will appropriately prioritize health concerns while, at the same time, take thoughtful and measured steps to serve our communities.'