After bottoming out in early April, the HOTEL industry is showing signs of recovery.Elie Maalouf, IHG's chief executive officer for the Americas, Shared the steady rise in average revenue from available rooms in the U.S. in recent weeks, according to STR.
Q: Can you provide an update on the recovery of the hotel industry as the summer travel season begins?
A: The decline in the industry has been historic, deep and rapid.However, we performed well in the whole process.In the Americas, we closed 10 percent of our hotels in North and South America by the end of the first quarter.But since then, more hotels have reopened every week, and I expect all of them to reopen in the near future.
Interestingly, in some parts of the country, whether it's Florida, Southern California or other resorts, we've been full or near full for the past few weekends, and it's not a national phenomenon.In some places, you will see people traveling across the region with the lifting of lockups and travel restrictions.Whether it's 2022 or 2023, we believe the industry will recover, time will tell, and we will return to business as usual.
Q: Where is IHG positioned in terms of a reversal in the hospitality industry?
A. In the U.S. market, we have a very large mainstream brand business, not just the urban high-end, upscale and luxury business.But we focus on mainstream brands with limited service, such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge, Candlewood, Avid, etc.Today, the most promising business is the domestic business, and our strength in the mainstream brands and entering the market is helping us to perform better.
Q: As the epidemic affects urban areas, do you think big cities will struggle to rebound as quickly as smaller markets?
A: People are eager to gather, travel and experience their energy, their culture, restaurants, events and sports in these beautiful cities, and the city's hotel market will return to normal.
Reservations are required for many meetings, usually two or three years in advance.If you cancel it, there won't be any in the fall.It may take another year or two.That is why industry insiders believe conference business in big cities will soon recover.
