COVID-19 update: Recovery of the hospitality industry has begun!

The past few months have been every hotelier’s worst nightmare; doors had to close, there were no guests to take care of and (almost) no revenue came in. During the whole period cancellations flooded in and the number of reservations was minimal. After all this bad news, we dare to be optimistic again; in our Channel Manager, we see a rising trend in reservations!

 

Recovery of the hospitality industry

Hoteliers saw a depression in the booking market, especially when you look at the number of reservations coming in compared to the number of cancellations. You can see this in the graph below:

Before the corona crisis, there was a healthy ratio between reservations and cancellations. Of the incoming reservation data* 84% consisted of new reservations compared to 16% of cancellations.

At the lowest point of the corona crisis, these figures changed dramatically, and the roles were reversed. The cancellations flooded in: 84% of the incoming reservation data consisted of cancellations, and only 16% were new reservations.

Now (in early June) we see a substantial increase in the number of reservations versus cancellations: 74% of the data consists of reservations, compared to 26% of cancellations. A clear sign that the recovery of the hospitality industry has started.

* Reservation data: an umbrella term for all incoming reservations, modifications (changed reservations) and cancellations.

 

Read more: Welcoming back guests: prepare your hotel for post-coronavirus time

 

Change in booking behaviour

The increase in the number of reservations doesn’t come out of the blue though. In the last few weeks, there have been several changes that have a positive impact on bookers. We have highlighted three aspects below:

 

Rising consumer confidence

The number of coronavirus infections are decreasing in many countries within Europe. As countries seem to be slowly recovering from the virus, it is giving consumers the confidence to make plans for the future.

 

Reopening of the hospitality industry

At the moment, people mainly focus on a holiday within their own country, which has become more attractive now the COVID-19 restrictions are loosened. The reopening of the hospitality industry and other activities within the leisure industry in some countries can make a holiday more appealing.

 

International travellers

Within Europe, the government is making new agreements to reopen several land borders to tourists. The opening of the borders gives the traveller the confidence to book a holiday abroad.

Airline companies are partly resuming their flights, which gives tourists more opportunities to go on holiday in Europe. However, we expect that the majority of tourists will still travel to their holiday destination by car.

 

Also interesting: Keep working Smart with an eye on the future! 

 

Careful optimism

We’re on the mend again, and that gives us hope! We’re still not back to the volume of reservations we saw before the corona crisis, but hotels are receiving relatively more reservations than cancellations. The increase in customer confidence and the softening of the restrictions allow us to start becoming optimistic again.

 

COVID-19 information

 

About SmartHOTEL

For more than 16 years, SmartHOTEL has been helping hoteliers navigate the exciting world of online distribution. From our office based in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, our team serves independent hotels, hostels and chains worldwide by providing channel management and tailored online distribution solutions. A lot has changed over the last years, but our goal remains the same: simply connect hotels to the world. For any questions regarding our services, please contact us at sales@smarthotel.nl or call +31 (0)182 75 11 18.

 

By Chantal Mieremet | June 15, 2020

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