Given the low occupancy rate, hotels are looking for help to fill rooms. Due to the severe COVID outbreak in Shanghai, the hospitality industry has been hit hard. Revenues are down even compared to last year.
Jerome Qiu, chief operating officer of IHG Greater China, said: “If you take Intercontinental Hotels Group, for example, our first-quarter revenue from available rooms in China is down 42 percent from 2019, down 7 percent from last year.”
The hotel industry has struggled and adjusted to reduce the impact of COVID-19.
Now city officials are trying to help the industry stay afloat.
For the third year in a row, Shanghai has published its annual “12 Measures” to support the tourism industry. In 2022, these 12 measures will include financial support and subsidies to reduce the financial burden on companies. The new measures include tax and fee reductions, work subsidies, disinvestment subsidies, fixed cost subsidies and more.
“We’re very pleased to see these supportive policies, especially for hotel operations, related subsidies, tax cuts, disinfection subsidies, Social Security cuts and employee training subsidies. – Jerome Q. said.
Hotels hope the new measures will lead to better business in the coming weeks and months. And while it may be too soon to expect business at a pre-pandemic level, they are confident that the travel market will return in full force.
While Jordi Pedro, manager of Artyzen Habitat Qiantan Shanghai, said: “There is a lot of uncertainty, but at the same time there is a huge demand for travel. Business has to resume, people have to meet, people have to sign contracts, people have to rebuild their relationships and support business, and leisure, I’m sure there are millions of people who are dying to come to the restaurant, come to the bars, stay at the hotel and enjoy the experience the hotel has to offer, and that should be a priority to create value, to communicate what we can offer to attract people.”
Struggling to survive during a pandemic, hotels are trying to keep the lights on and pull travelers away.