editor’s - guestcentric

1

https://www.ghotw.com/

https://www.guestcentric.com/

Editor’s Note By Pedro Colaco

The post-covid travel boom is at your doorstep.

Is your hotel ready?

When travel will recover is no longer a question of

consumer demand, but when restrictions will be lift-

ed. If anything, the US market is a good prediction of

what’s to come. Due to swift vaccination most states

have fully reopened for business and hotel bookings

in the US in April 2021 have exceeded 2019 values.

Meanwhile, destinations across Europe are gradually

phasing through their respective roadmaps to reopen

local economies, and the industry is growing increas-

ingly optimistic in anticipation of the pent-up con-

sumer demand.

Thus, our April 2021 Hotelier PULSE survey reveals

increasing optimism across the industry. Following a

steady decline in hotels open for business since Oc-

tober 2020, April marks the inflection point with a

significant increase in hotels that have reopened in

anticipation for the summer demand. Over 75% of

Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 state that their ho-

tel is open or will open in May and industry average

monthly occupancy expectations are increasing for

all market segments .

This edition also shows that Hoteliers want to cap-

italize on the demand that’s coming. For the first

time since the start of the survey, expectations are

that ADR may moderately increase, and two thirds of

hoteliers expect 2021 to be a better year than 2020

in terms of hotel revenue.

Another positive sign is that not only is leisure driving

the recovery, but there is a growing expectation that

corporate travel will resume. GDS data shows a small,

but steady recovery and group demand is returning

focused on Q4’2021 and Q2’2022.

Based on the current signals in the market, we ex-

pect the pent-up travel boom from the US to come to

Europe. What is still unknown is when that time will

come, as it continues to depend on how the pandem-

ic and vaccination will evolve. Therefore, it is crucial

for Hoteliers to continue sharing information and co-

ordinate to ensure the industry can effectively cap-

ture the demand in the upturn.

If you would like to know what the in-

dustry’s expectation will be for the sum-

mer of 2021, I encourage each of you to

contribute and take our May Survey.

Sincerely,

Pedro Colaco,

CEO of Guestcentric &

Editor of The Hotelier

PULSE Report

Go To Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/14thEditionHotelierPULSEReport

Table of Content

1.0

2.1 2.2 2.3

AprilKey Takeaways

Interview withDaniella Boeken, Group Vice Presi-dent at Ruby Hotels

3 4

9

Market Trends

Occupancy Expectation

18

2.4

How are Hotels Doing This Month?

23

2.5

Financial RecoveryForecast

27

Sales & Marketing Concerns, Priorities & Strategies in the Next 12 Months

33

Guest Behaviour & Hotel Expectation

40

Conclusions

46

4

1.0Market Trends

• The Direct Channel continues to showthe strongest recovery as we approach thesummer months. In April 2021, Direct gen-erated 78.2% of bookings over the sameperiod in 2019. Booking shows slower re-covery in April 2021, generating just 49.1%of bookings over the same period in 2019

• The US market gives a strong indicationof how the travel boom will develop glob-ally. Hotel bookings in the US grew to 2019levels in March 2021, and exceeded 2019levels in April 2021.

• In April 2021, GDS generated 15.5% of totalstay nights of April 2019, ranking 3rd, out ofall other channels, in terms of resilience.

2.1Occupancy Expectation

• April 2021 seems to have outperformedexpectations. An increasing number of Ho-teliers met or exceeded the monthly occu-pancy levels (17.0%) expected for April.

• The average monthly occupancy ex-pectancy for May Hoteliers showed thegreatest increase since the launch of the

Hotelier PULSE Report in April 2020. The monthly occupancy level grew from 17.0% for April 2021 to 28.0% in May 2021.

• Hoteliers across all property segmentsexpect the highest occupancy levels inMay 2021 since October 2020. Resorts arethe more optimistic sector in regards tooccupancy expectation, followed by Bed &Breakfasts and City Hotels.

2.2How are Hotels Doing This Month?

• Over 60.0% of Hotels surveyed are nowopen and operational, marking a positiveshift in comparison to March and February2021.

• This edition shows a positive shift aheadof the summer travel demand. Comparedto March 2021 survey results, April 2021shows an approximate 10.0% decreasein shutdown or majorly restricted hotels.The number of Hotels in recovery has alsoincreased by 7.0%. An additional 2.0% ofHotels report no impact from the crisis.

• The majority of City Center Hotels are stillin shutdown, while the majority of Resortsand Bed & Breakfasts are dealing with ma-jor restrictions.

April 2021Key Takeaways

5

2.3Financial Recovery Forecast

• For the first time in our Hotelier PULSEseries, over 50.0% of hoteliers surveyed inApril 2021 expect to increase their revenuein 2021 vs 2020.

• A whopping 57.8% of Hoteliers expect toincrease revenue in 2021, while just 32.8%expect revenue to decrease in comparisonto 2020. Just 9.4% of Hoteliers expect tomaintain 2020 revenue levels in 2021.

• The majority of Resorts expect revenueto reach 2019 levels in 2021, while Bed &Breakfasts and City Center Hotels antici-pate achieving these values in 2022.

2.4


• The majority of Hoteliers surveyed in April2021 (92.2%) continue to rank the ‘HotelWebsite’ as Very or Extremely Important’.

• Of the trends that have emerged or re-emerged as a result of the crisis, ‘The Di-rect channel as the Top Reservation Chan-nel’ is once again considered the mostimportant priority. Of Hoteliers surveyed inApril 2021, a staggering 85.3% will continue

optimizing the direct channel over the next 12 months.

• For the first time since December 2020,the expectation for business travel hasgrown. In comparison to March 2021, ourApril 2021 survey results show a 10 per-centage points increase in Hoteliers whoexpect Domestic Business Travel to con-tribute significantly to recovery whenrestrictions ease - currently at 22.7%.

2.5

Guest Behavior and Hotel Expectations

• ADR expectations have reached a positiveterrain for the first time since the start ofthe crisis, improving significantly since No-vember 2020. Our April 2021 survey resultsshow more Hoteliers expect to maintain orincrease prices over the next 12 months.

• The majority of Hoteliers surveyed in April2021 expect vaccination levels per desti-nation to significantly impact the uptick ofevents.

• Over 50.0% of Hoteliers surveyed in April2021 expect limitation for business travelto be slight or no limitation from the firstquarter of 2022 onwards.

Key Takeaways for April

6

Spotlight

D aniellaBoeken

Group Vice President at Ruby Hotels

With the US fully reopened and Europe steadily easing out of lockdown, Hoteliers are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel as ho-tel bookings increase day by day. Based on the current sig-nals from consumers, when travel will resume is no lon-ger a question of demand, but when vaccination will roll out globally and the world fully reopens to travel.

In this month’s Hotelier Spot-light Interview, we catch up with Daniella Boeken, Group Vice President Commercial & Member of the Executive Board at Ruby Hotels in Ger-many. Here, she shares what her business is doing to en-

sure they effectively cap-ture the demand and recover strongly in the upturn.

Hotel bookings in April 2021 have outgrown those in the same period in 2020. Occu-pancy expectations are also increasing for May, particu-larly for City Center Hotels. Are you experiencing this in your City properties?

April 2021 is undoubtedly much stronger than last year. How-ever, we must remember that we had more hotels closed in April 2020. In partially re-opened hubs such as London, we’ve seen a small pick up in

business at the start of 2021. However, many hotels remain closed and the industry-wide occupancy across the region is approximately 10%.

Despite the nationwide lock-down in Germany, surrounding markets such as Vienna and Amsterdam have also started to reopen, and we are seeing the impact in bookings and occupancy. In Zurich, the in-dustry’s average occupancy is currently around 25%. This is a positive indication that travel is steadily growing and likely to continue throughout 2021.

According to EU Officials, American tourists who have

7

been fully vaccinated will be allowed to visit the European Union this summer. Therefore, we are also anticipating the potential influx of US tourists over the summer. However, we must also acknowledge that summer is not typically the peak season for city hotels. So we are currently looking at how bookings and occupan-cy develops for the Autumn, especially because business travel will likely take longer to recover.

What are your expectations for the summer and do you still think there may be a chance that international travel will resume this year?

Based on last year’s perfor-mance, our outlook for sum-mer 2021 is extremely positive. Consumer demand is here, no doubt about it. However, we must continue to wait and see how the vaccination rollout continues to develop across Europe and what the impact will be on international travel. In Germany, vaccination roll-out has been slow. Therefore, the government has made in-oculation more easily acces-sible to diverse age groups and through GP services. With the growing expectation that the US will reopen outbound travel bans for citizens who have been fully vaccinated, we hope that quickening the vaccination pace in Germany will increase the industry’s chance to fully reopen and

capture the demand in 2021. But we must also remain re-alistic, and acknowledge that international travel will proba-bly not reopen until 2022.

How is your hotel using the downtime to strengthen your position when restrictions lift and make way for the f lood of pent-up travel demand?

At Ruby Hotels, we offer lux-ury at affordable prices. Pro-cess automation enables us to deliver this, because it ensures efficiency and low-ers the cost in time spent on administrative tasks. Automa-tion and digitisation have al-ways been a key focus points for us. During the low period of commercial activity how-ever, we took the opportunity to undergo a full tech stack

Interview with Daniella Boeken

AboutDaniella Boeken

Consumer Demand is here, no doubt about it.

Daniella Boeken is the Group Vice President Commercial and Member of the Executive Board at Ruby GmbH. In her role, Daniella is responsible for the strategic direction of Ruby’s commercial departments, including Sales; Marketing; Revenue Management; Reservations and Workspaces. With Daniella’s diverse, international experience and expertise in the commercial hospitality industry, she strengthens Ruby’s promising expansion vision. Opening four hotels this year in Germany and Switzerland, Ruby will oper-ate 12 hotels and 3 workspaces by the end of 2021 and has an additional 15 hotels in the pipeline, in Europe, the UK and Asia.

“

8

review and revamp to really strengthen our position for the upturn and beyond.

As such, we have complete-ly upgraded our PMS to au-tomate the guest journey as much as possible, handling all payments and check-ins au-tomatically and prior to the guest arrival. Our hotel recep-tion now doubles up as the

bar, and hosts have more time to focus on delivering a pos-itive guest experience rather than carrying out administra-tive tasks.

In 2020, we also took the time to thoroughly review and re-vamp our hotel websites. Par-ticularly to respond to the rise of mobile bookings. We also continue to focus strong-ly on delivering contactless experiences. Last year we introduced 100% cashless payments across all our ho-tels - including the vending machines.

We have been engaging di-rectly with guests in prepa-ration for when restrictions are lifted, collaborating with guests for feedback on fu-ture events we have planned and requesting reviews to so-cial proof our brand. We’ve also ramped up guest mes-

Interview with Daniella Boeken

saging and pre-arrival emails, so our guests can always re-member us and look forward to visiting our hotels.

With international travel on hold for now, we currently shape our offers around the local market, delivering stay-cations and working with local businesses to deliver special services. However, we are still looking at the signals from across the globe, all while ac-tively using this time to test new strategies, offers, dis-tribution channels and rates. I truly believe this will bet-ter enable us to capture the demand that’s moving closer and closer to our doorstep.

“We are using this

time to test new

strategies, offers,

distribution channels

and rates.

Read the Full Interview Here.

https://www.guestcentric.com/daniella-boeken

9

1.0Market Trends

Key Takeaways

01

02

03

The Direct Channel continues to show the strongest recov-

ery as we approach the summer months. In April 2021, Di-

rect generated 78.2% of bookings over the same period in

2019. Booking shows slower recovery in April 2021, generat-

ing just 49.1% of bookings over the same period in 2019.

The US market gives a strong indication of how the travel

boom will develop globally. Hotel bookings in the US grew to

2019 levels in March 2021, and exceeded 2019 levels in April

2021.

In April 2021, GDS generated 15.5% of total stay nights of

April 2019, ranking 3rd, out of all other channels, in terms of

resilience.

10

Market Trends

Our Market Trends analysis covers booking behaviour in 2021 year-to-date, in comparison to the same period in 2020. We also cover the evolution of channel performance in 2021 vs 2020 and 2019, how each reservation channel is recovering, mobile reservations behavior, booking pace, Domestic vs International travel trends, and the latest world news that has impacted hotel bookings in recent weeks.

Analysing bookings and stays per channel from January to April 2021, the graphs below show how each of the 5 main channels performed. These channels are:

1. Direct2. Booking3. Expedia4. GDS5. Others

Booking Behaviours in 2021

Booked Nights - Direct20202019 2021

Booked Nights - Booking20202019 2021

Booked Nights - Others20202019 2021

Booked Nights - Expedia20202019 2021

Booked Nights - GDS20202019 2021

11

Our hotel CRS continues to register a steady increase in booked nights across all channels, but most notably Direct and Booking.com. Although fresh waves of cases, travel restrictions and flight bans continue to impact hotel bookings across all channels, the lift of restrictive measures in some countries and the ongoing vaccination rollout is positively impacting the hotel reservations worldwide.

The industry is beginning to emerge from the crisis and bookings in April 2021 have overtak-en bookings in April 2020 by 447.1%. In comparison to 2019, booked nights across all online channels in April 2021 comprise nearly half of the nights booked in April 2019 at 49.8%.

Direct is the only channel that generated over half of nights booked in April 2019 - at 78.2%. When compared with April 2020, Direct registered an increase of 866.2% in nights booked nights of the course of April 2021.

Booking.com comes second, and in April 2021 generated 439.3% more nights booked than in the same period in 2020. Compared with pre-pandemic values, Booking is not recovering as fast. In April 2021, Booking generated 49.1% of bookings over the same period in April 2019. Expedia continues to rank 3rd, generating 27.7% of the nights booked in April 2019. Yet in April 2021, Expedia generated 166.5% more nights than those booked over the same period in 2020.

GDS and Others (including wholesalers, tour operators, smaller groups, etc.) generated the least booked nights in April 2021 vs 2020 and 2019. Nights booked through GDS in April 2021

Market Trends

12

comprise just 23.0% of bookings than in the same period in 2019. In comparison to April 2020 however, GDS generated 351.2% more bookings in April 2021.

All other channels underperformed significantly in April 2021, comprising just 21.7% of book-ings over the same period in 2019. Compared with April 2020 however, these channels gen-erated 243.4% more bookings in April 2021.

Considering overall results for April 2021, below are the total booked nights for each channel by order of performance - compared to bookings in April 2020 and 2019:

VS 2020 VS 2019

Direct: 866.2% Direct: 78.2%Booking; 430.3% Booking: 49.1%GDS: 351.2% GDS: 21.7%Others: 243.4% Others: 27.7%Expedia: 166.5% Expedia: 23.0%

In April 2021, stay nights across all channels, comprised just 24.6% of stays over the same period in 2019. However, stay nights in April 2021 were 140.8% over those during the same period in 2020.

Once again, the Direct channel showed the strongest performance in April 2021, generating over 41.7% of the check-ins over the same period in 2019. Compared to April 2020, Direct generated 246.5% more stays in April 2021. In April 2021, Booking generated just 18.3% of the stays over the same period in 2019. In comparison to April 2020, Booking generated 278.8% more stays in April 2021.

For the first time in our Hotelier PULSE Report series, GDS ranks 3rd in channel performance for stays in April 2021, generating 15.5% of the total stays over the same period in 2019. Giv-en how GDS stays reached rock-bottom in April 2020, stay nights generated by GDS in April 2021 grew to 2533.3% over the numbers in April 2020.

Expedia ranks now in 4th place in channel performance for April 2021, generating just 14.9% of stays over the same period in 2019. In April 2021, Expedia generated 189.3% more stays compared to the stays April 2020.

Stay Behaviours in 2021

Market Trends

13

In April 2021, all other channels generated just 23.0% of the stays over the same period in April 2020, and a meager 11.6% of stays over the same period in 2019.

Looking at the overall results for April 2021 vs 2020 and April 2021 vs 2019, here is the vol-ume of stay nights for each channel by order of performance:

VS 2020 VS 2019

Direct: 246.5% Direct: 41.7%Booking: 227.8% Booking: 18.3%GDS: 2533.3% GDS: 15.5%Expedia: 189.3% Expedia: 14.9%Others: 23.0% Others: 11.6%

Market Trends

14

U.S. Reopening

In April 2021, the US appears to be fully reopened. Vaccination is progressing at a steady pace, and public gatherings such as Spring break have returned with a vengeance. This is reflected in bookings for hotels based in the US, which grew to 2019 levels in March 2021, and nearly doubled 2019 levels in April 2021.

Analysing bookings from US guests, we see a steady increase to near 2019 levels between March and April 2021, which is a clear signal of revenge travel on the horizon. Furthermore, bookings from US guests in April 2021 significantly exceeded those over the same period in 2020.

Looking at the overall number of nights booked, across all channels and countries, we’re inching closer to the upturn, with the US viewed as a bellwether for how the travel boom will develop globally once restrictions are lifted. April was the turning point, showing a substan-tial increase in nights booked.

Market Trends

15

International Travel vs Domestic Travel in 2021

In 2019, Domestic Travel represented less than one fourth of total bookings, at around 20.0%. However, due to international travel restrictions and ongoing uncertainty, his trend changed dramatically in 2020.

In April 2020, domestic bookings grew to 35.0% of total bookings, and exceeded the 50% mark in May 2020 - never dropping below 44.0% since then.

By February 2021, Domestic bookings peaked to 62.0% of total bookings. Since then howev-er, and for the second month in a row, domestic bookings have been steadily decreasing.

In March 2021, domestic bookings comprised 58.0% of total bookings (4 percentage points less than February). In April 2021, domestic bookings decreased again by 3 percentage points to 55.0% of total bookings.

In April 2020, booking pace increased substantially, with more travelers postponing their travel plans. Due to rescheduled travel plans, booking pace grew to 127 days in April 2020 - approximately 4 months and 1 week. But as the situation grew increasingly uncertain andrestrictions fluctuated, booking pace decreased dramatically throughout the rest of 2020.

Booking Pace

Market Trends

16

In 2021, Booking Pace is much more aligned with the pre-pandemic behaviour. The overall booking pace in April 2021 was 50 days - people are booking between three weeks to one month in advance. Booking pace in April 2021 is very similar to April 2019 levels, where guests booked an average of 53 days in advance.

We see a major difference in pace between Domestic and International bookings. In April 2021, people traveling within their own countries booked on average for the next month (with 36 days in advance). Meanwhile, international travelers booked 3 months in advance (82 days). While Domestic booking pace is very similar to pre-pandemic values, International booking pace, although decreasing, is still higher than it used to be.

0

30

60

90

120

150

Market Trends

17

Mobile Booking Trends

While in 2015, just 7.3% of all hotel bookings were made via mobile, this number increased steadily year upon year. In 2020, mobile bookings represented 24.4% of all bookings. In February 2021 we tracked the highest percentage of mobile bookings at 31.0%, followed by 29.0% in March and April 2021.

Analysing the total volume of nights booked, mobile bookings increased in April 2021 vs April 2019. This indicates that mobile bookings will continue to grow in the future, and more Ho-tels should focus on optimizing their mobile website and strategy.

Market Trends

18

Key Takeaways

01

02

03

April 2021 seems to have outperformed expectations. An in-

creasing number of Hoteliers met or exceeded the monthly

occupancy levels (17.0%) expected for April.

The average monthly occupancy expectancy for May Hote-

liers showed the greatest increase since the launch of the

Hotelier PULSE Report in April 2020. The monthly occupan-

cy level grew from 17.0% for April 2021 to 28.0% in May 2021.

Hoteliers across all property segments expect the highest

occupancy levels in May 2021 since October 2020. Resorts

are the more optimistic sector as regards to occupancy ex-

pectation, followed by Bed & Breakfasts and City Hotels.

2.1OccupancyExpectations

19

Poll

Hoteliers we surveyed in March expected an average of 17.0% occupancy in April. Do you expect your property to be below, the same, or above this expectation?

Since we launched our Hotelier PULSE Report seriesin April 2020, Hoteliers have consistently overestimated their monthly occupancy expectations. This undoubtedly mirrors ever-chang-ing regulations and travel restrictions, which make it increasingly difficult for Hoteliers to forecast their occupancy per month.

However in the 14th edition, we can see this trend moving in a more positive direction, with less Hoteliers falling short of the average monthly occupancy forecasted for April. An in-creasing number of Hoteliers have met or exceeded the monthly occupancy of 17.0% ex-pected for April 2021.

This edition shows an upward shift in occupancy expectations, with more Hoteliers meeting the monthly occupancy forecasted for April 2021. Of Hoteliers surveyed in April, 34.5% ex-pected to meet the 17.0% occupancy forecasted for April 2021. This marks a 10.5% increase from 24.0% in March 2021. This marks the highest percentage of Hoteliers who share this view since October 2020.

21.9

%

17.7

%

10.1

%

7.0% 8.0%

5.3% 6.8% 9.6% 10.7

%

26.7

%

23.5

% 31.3

%

15.0

%

27.3

%

22.3

%

18.5

%

24.0

% 34.5

%

51.4

% 58.8

%

58.6

%

77.0

%

64.8

% 72.3

%

74.8

%

66.4

%

54.8

%

AUG-20 SEP-20 OCT-20 NOV-20 DEC-20 JAN-21 FEB-21 MAR-21 APR-21


20

Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 54.8% expected hotel occupancy to be significantly lower than the 17.0% average occupancy forecasted for April 2021. This marks the lowest number of Hoteliers who do not expect to meet the forecasted monthly occupancy since September 2020. This marks a 12 percentage points decrease in Hoteliers who share this view, from 66.4% in March 2021.

58.5

50.0

52.9

34.2

38.5

29.4

7.3

11.5

17.7

City Hotels

Resort Hotels

B&Bs

Expect occupancy to be higher

Expect occupancy to be the sam

Expect occupancy to be lower


https://www.guestcentric.com/request-a-demo

21

Furthermore, this edition marks a 1.2% increase in Hoteliers who exceeded the monthly oc-cupancy forecast, from 9.5% for March 2021, to 10.7% for April 2021. These are all positive signals, and indicate that travel is steadily reviving, if only domestically for now.

There is a balanced outlook for April 2021 occupancy across all property segments in this edition. Although between 60.0 to 67.0% of Hoteliers from all property segments did not meet the average occupancy expected for March 2021, these numbers decreased by ap-proximately 10.0% per segment for April 2021.

In April 2021, 58.5% of City Center Hotels (vs 66.0% in March 2021), 52.9% of Bed & Break-fasts and 50.0% of Resorts (each 6.7% in March 2021) did not expect to meet the 17.0% expected occupancy levels.

Compared to March 2021 survey results, approximately 8.0% more Hoteliers from City Ho-tels, 17.0% from Resorts, and 14.0% from Bed & Breakfasts expected to meet or exceed the monthly occupancy expected for April 2021. This is a positive shift.

City Center Hotels represent the majority of respondents expecting to not reach the month-ly occupancy forecasted for April 2021, at 58.5%. Resort Hotels represent the majority of respondents expecting to meet the forecast, at 38.5%. Bed & Breakfasts are the most opti-mistic segment, representing the majority of respondents expecting to exceed the average occupancy expected for April 2021, at 18.7%.

In May 2021, Hoteliers across all property segments expect much higher occupancy levels in comparison to all seven months since October 2020. Furthermore, the average monthly oc-cupancy expected for May 2021 shows the largest increase since the launch of The Hotelier PULSE Report series in April 2020. Hoteliers currently expect an average 28.0% occupancy for May 2021, up 11.0% from 17.0% occupancy expected for April 2021.

What is your expectation for total occupancy in May 2021?


22

What is your expectation for total occupancy in May 2021?

0,00%

10,00%

20,00%

30,00%

40,00%

50,00%

60,00%

Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 May-21


City Center Hotels B&Bs Resorts

Resorts are the most optimistic sector in regards to occupancy expectations for April, fol-lowed by Bed & Breakfasts, and City hotels.

Today, Resort Hotels expect an average occupancy of 33.1% for May 2021 (vs 17.0% for April 2021). Bed & Breakfasts forecast 26.5% occupancy in May 2021 (vs 13.3% in April 2021). City Center Hotels expect 25.6% occupancy in May 2021 (vs 18.0% in April 2021).

Resorts and City Center Hotels register the highest occupancy expectation since October 2020, and Bed & Breakfasts since November 2020.


23

How AreHotels DoingThis Month?

2.2

Key Takeaways

01

02

03

Over 60.0% of Hotels surveyed are now open and opera-

tional, marking a positive shift in comparison to March and

February 2021.

This edition shows a positive shift ahead of the summer

travel demand. Compared to March 2021 survey results,

April 2021 shows an approximate 10.0% decrease in shut-

down or majorly restricted hotels. The number of Hotels in

recovery has also increased by 7.0%. An additional 2.0% of

Hotels report no impact from the crisis.

The majority of City Center Hotels are still in shutdown,

while the majority of Resorts and Bed & Breakfasts are deal-

ing with major restrictions.

24

This edition shows a positive shift in preparation for the summer demand. The results of our April 2021 survey shows a sharp decrease in shutdown or majorly restricted hotels. Conse-quently, an increasing number of Hotels are currently dealing with minor restrictions, in the recovery stage, or no longer feeling the impact of the crisis.

Although the majority of hotels in this edition remain closed or continue to deal with major restrictions, these numbers have decreased substantially in comparison to the first quar-ter of 2021. Benchmarking against March 2021 survey results (the most positive month of the quarter), 34.2% of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 (vs 43.6%) are currently facing major restrictions while 29.3% (vs 40.6%) remain closed.

April 2021 shows a 10.0% decrease in shutdown or majorly restricted hotels, while proper-ties in the recovery stage increased by 12.0%. The number of hotels currently facing minor restrictions has increased by 7.0% and 2.0% more hotels report feeling no impact from the crisis. Our April 2021 survey results show the number of Hotels in recovery nearly doubled in comparison to March 2021 - up from just 7.9% to 19.5%. This is a clear indication that more hotels are kicking off recovery in anticipation for the travel renaissance expected over the summer months.

What statement best describes the current status of your hotel today?

How Are Hotels Doing This Month?

25

Reaching the highest levels since our October 2020 edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report, 12.2% of Hotels report minor restrictions in April 2021 (up from just 5.0% in March 2021). Although just 4.9% of Hotels report no impact in April 2021, this number nearly doubles just 3.0% in March 2021.

The majority of City Center Hotels are still in shutdown, while the majority of Resorts and Bed & Breakfasts report major restrictions. Interestingly, these results show a significant contrast from March 2021, where the majority of City Center Hotels reported major restric-tions and most Resorts remained closed.

In this edition, Bed & Breakfasts represent the majority of hotels in the ‘Major Restrictions’ stage, at 41.2% (a 17.0% decrease from 58.3% in March 2021). Just 1.8% of Bed & Breakfasts are still in shutdown (vs 25.0% in March 2021). Consequently, the number of Bed & Break-fasts operating with minor restrictions has grown from just 4.2% in March 2021 to 24.5% in April 2021. The number of Bed & Breakfasts in recovery has also increased significantly, from 13.5% in March 2021 to 17.0% in April 2021. Although just 5.9% report no impact, Bed & Breakfasts represent the majority of hotels in this stage.

Compared to our March 2021 survey results, the number of Resorts in complete shutdown has decreased by more than half. In April 2021, just 24.0% of Resorts reported complete shutdown (vs 52.7% of Resorts surveyed in March 2021). Of Resorts surveyed in April 2021, 36.0% report major restrictions, and just 8.0% report minor restrictions.

On a more optimistic note, 24.0% of Resorts have entered recovery in April 2021, repre-senting an increase of approximately 14.0% since March 2021. Furthermore, 8.0% of Resorts report no impact.

What statement best describes the current status of your hotel today?

Shutdown

Major Restrictions

Minor Restrictions

Recovery

No Impact40.0

24.0

11.8

30.0

36.0

41.2

10.0

8.0

23.5

17.5

24.0

17.7 5.6

2.5

8.0

City Center Hotels

Resort Hotels

B&Bs


26

Of City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021, the majority are still in shutdown at 40.0% - marking a slight decrease from 41.7% in March 2021. Meanwhile, 30.0% of City Center Hotels report major restrictions, marking a 13.0% decrease from 43.8% in March 2021.

Consequently, the number of City Center Hotels currently dealing with minor restrictions increased, from 6.3% in March 2021 to 10.0% in April 2021. Meanwhile, the number of City Center Hotels in recovery has tripled in April 2021, at 17.5% (vs just 4.2% in March 2021). However, the number of City Center Hotels reporting no impact has decreased from 4.7% in March 2021 to 2.5% in April 2021.

Over 60.0% of Hotels surveyed in April 2021 are now open and operational, which is notably a positive shift in comparison to February and March 2021. In addition, nearly 15.0% of Hotels surveyed expect to reopen in May 2021, and 12.2% in June 2021. The minority of Hoteliers surveyed will wait until July or after to reopen.

Breaking down the results per segment, Bed & Breakfasts represent the majority of hotels already open. Of Bed & Breakfasts surveyed in April 2021, 82.4% are fully operational, fol-lowed by 60.0% of City Center Hotels, and 44.0% of Resorts.

All Bed & Breakfasts expect to reopen between May and June 2021, while Resorts expect to reopen by July 2021 at the latest. City Center Hotels represent the least optimistic segment, with 15.0% expecting to only reopen in August or later.

When will your hotel reopen?


27

Key Takeaways

01

02

03

For the first time in our Hotelier PULSE series, over 50.0%

of hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 expect to increase their

revenue in 2021 vs 2020.

A whopping 57.8% of Hoteliers expect to increase revenue in

2021, while just 32.8% expect revenue to decrease in com-

parison to 2020. Just 9.4% of Hoteliers expect to maintain

2020 revenue levels in 2021.

The majority of Resorts expect revenue to reach 2019 levels

in 2021, while Bed & Breakfasts and City Center Hotels ex-

pect to achieve these values in 2022.

28

For the first time since the beginning of this year, over 50.0% of Hoteliers expect to increase their revenue in 2021 vs 2020. Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 57.8% expect revenue to increase in 2021 vs 2020. This marks a 12 percentage points increase from 45.6% who said the same in March 2021.

Consequently, less Hoteliers expect revenue to decrease in 2021 vs 2020, down 12.0% from 44.5% in March 2021 to 32.8% today. Just 9.4% of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 expect revenue to remain to same in 2021 vs 2020.

Breaking the responses down by 3 categories: 1. Decrease, 2. Maintain or 3. Increase, the results show:

Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 32.8% expect revenue to decrease in 2021 vs 2020 (compared to 45.6% in March 2021).

Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, just 9.4% expect to maintain the same revenue level in 2021 vs 2020 (compared to 10.0% in March 2021).

Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, the majority - 57.8% expect to increase revenue in 2021 vs 2020 (compared to 44.5% in March 2021).

What is your expectation of total hotel revenue in 2021 when compared to 2020?

01

02

03

Financial Recovery Forecast

29

Analysing the April 2021 survey results by property segment, Resorts show the highest rev-enue performance expectations for 2021. Of those surveyed in April 2021, 66.7% of Resorts expect revenue to increase in 2021 vs 2021 (compared to 48.1% in March 2021). Following Resorts, 54.9% of City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021 now expect to maintain 2020 revenue levels in 2021 (vs 47.5% of those surveyed in March 2021).

Increase

Stay the Same

Decrease

54.9

66.7

50.0

12.9

16.7

32.3

33.3

33.3

City Hotels

Resort

B&Bs

What is your expectation of total hotel revenue in 2021 when compared to 2020?


https://join.ghotw.com/

30

It’s also worth noting that 4.8% of Resorts and 3.2% of City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021 expect revenue to increase by over 50.0% in 2021 vs 2020.

Although Bed & Breakfasts show a more consertive outlook in terms of revenue perfor-mance in 2021, half of those surveyed in April 2021 expect this year’s revenue to exceed 2020 values. This marks nearly a 12.0% increase across this segment, compared to March 2021 survey results. Meanwhile, 16.7% of Bed & Breakfasts and 12.9% of City center hotels to maintain 2020 revenue levels in 2021.

April 2021 survey results show that in each property segment, approximately 33.0% of respondents expect revenue to decline in 2021 vs 2020. This represents a 11.0% drop from 44.0% who shared this expectation in March 2021.

The number of Hoteliers who expect to reach 2019 revenue levels in 2021 has also increased in this edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report. Consequently, the number of Hoteliers expect-ing to reach 2019 revenue levels in 2023 has decreased in comparison to edition 13.

Nearly half (47.6%) of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 expect to reach 2019 revenue levels in 2022 (vs 41.6% of those surveyed in March 2021). In addition, the number of Hoteliers who expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2021 has doubled since edition 13. Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 22.0% expect to achieve 2019 revenue levels in 2021 (vs just 10.9% of those surveyed in March 2021).

When do you estimate your business will recover to the same financial position 2019?

0,00%

10,00%

20,00%

30,00%

40,00%

50,00%

60,00%

70,00%

80,00%

Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 May-21

2021 2022 2023 2024 or after


31

Approximately 13.0% less hoteliers expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2023, at 23.2% of those surveyed in April 2021 vs 26.6% in March 2021. Approximately 3.0% less Hote-liers expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 3 years or more.

Overall, the majority of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 still expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2022. Interestingly however, there is almost an even split between 2021 and 2023 as the expected timelines for financial recovery to 2019 levels.

Compared to March 2021 survey results, where the majority of City Center Hotels expected to reach 2019 revenue levels in 2023, this edition shows a positive shift in the timeline to 2022. Of the City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021, 52.5% now expect to recover to reach 2019 revenue levels in 2022 - up nearly 20.0% from just 33.3% in March 2021.


32

Of the City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021, 30.0% of City Center Hotels expect to fi-nancially recover to 2019 levels in 2023 - down 18.0% from 47.9% in March 2021. Meanwhile, 10.0% of City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021 expect to financially recover in 2024 or later. Just 7.5% of City Center Hotels expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2021.

Once again, Resorts surveyed in April 2021 expect a quicker ascent to 2019 revenue levels in comparison to City Center Hotels. Out of all property segments surveyed in April 2021, only Resorts show the majority of respondents expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2021.

Of the Resorts surveyed in April 2021, 44.0% expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2021 (vs just 24.1% in March 2021). Just 28.0% of Resorts surveyed in April 2021 expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2022 (vs 44.8% of those surveyed in March 2021). This edition marks a notable shift (by approximately 20.0%) in the expected timeline for Resorts to financially recover to 2019 levels, from 2022 to 2021.

The number of Resorts expected to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2023 remains stable at approximately 20.0%. However, this edition shows a 1.0% increase in Resorts expected to financially recover in 2024 or after, at 8.0%.

Similar to City Center Hotels and contrary to Resorts, the majority of Bed & Breakfasts (64.7%) surveyed in April 2021 expect to reach 2019 revenue levels in 2022. This marks a 10.0% from just 54.2% who shared this view in March 2021. Consequently, the number of Bed & Breakfasts expecting to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2023 has decreased, accord-ing to our April 2021 survey results.

Out of all property segments, Bed & Breakfasts represent the majority of Hotels expected to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2022. Furthermore, our April 2021 survey results show a positive shift in comparison to March 2021, with 20.0% more Bed & Breakfasts expecting to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2021. Of the Bed & Breakfasts surveyed in April 2021, 243.5% expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2021 (vs just 4.2% in March 2021). Meanwhile, just 11.8% of Bed & Breakfasts expect to financially recover to 2019 levels in 2023, while none expect to recover in 2024 or later.


33


2.4

Key Takeaways

01

02

03

The majority of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 (92.2%) con-

tinue to rank the ‘Hotel Website’ as Very or Extremely Im-

portant’.

Of the trends that have emerged or re-emerged as a result

of the crisis, ‘The Direct channel as the Top Reservation

Channel’ is once again considered the most important pri-

ority. Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, a staggering 85.3%

will continue optimizing the direct channel over the next 12

months.

For the first time since December 2020, the expectation for

business travel has grown. In comparison to March 2021,

our April 2021 survey results show a 10 percentage points

increase in Hoteliers who expect Domestic Business Travel

to contribute significantly to recovery when restrictions ease

- currently at 22.7%.

34

Select your number 1 priority in overcoming the Covid crisis and preparing for the upturn

‘Creating Special Offers & Packages to Generate New Bookings’ continues to be ranked as the number 1 short-term recovery priority for Hoteliers. In this edition however, it registered a drop of almost 10.0% since edition 13, from 64.2% of Hoteliers surveyed in March 2021 to 53.3% today.

‘Redesigning Sales and Marketing Strategies to Attack New Markets’ maintains 2nd position in the list of short-term recovery strategies to overcome the economic downturn. Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 45.3% ranked this as a top priority, marking a 7.0% increase since our March 2021 survey.

Following a downward trend since June 2020, the need to ‘Put a Special Cleaning Program in Place to accomodate Guests’ has increased. Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 32.0% rank this as a top short-term recovery priority (vs 19.0% in March 2021). This suggests an increasing number of Hotels expect an influx of guests over the summer, and therefore want to revisit and re-establish all health and hygiene protocols before then.

The industry focus on Health & Safety concerns has surpassed the need to ‘Shape Offers around the Local Market’, and currently holds 3rd place. Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, just 24.0% rank shaping offers around the local market as a top priority(vs 29.5% in March 2021). As was the case in our March 2021 survey, just 12.0% of Hoteliers rank the need to ‘Upskill the Workforce’ as a top priority in this edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report.


35

In April 2021, we asked Hoteliers to rank by order of importance their Sales & Marketing Pri-orities to maximize sales and profitability over the next 12 months. These are:

- Hotel website- Social media- Rich media- OTAs- Channel Manager- Hotel CRS- Meta-search - Online Ads- Price comparison widget with OTAs on website- Revenue management- New distribution technology- Rate shopping system- Corporate Sales- Hotel bed banks- Tour Operators- Joining a brand/soft brand and Trade Shows- GDS- Sales Calls & roadshows.

Rank by order of importance your Marketing Priorities to maximize sales over the next 12 months


36

Throughout our Hotelier PULSE Report series, the majority of Hoteliers (90.0% and upwards) have consistently ranked the hotel website the number one sales and marketing tool Hote-liers to maximize sales and profitability in the next 12 months. Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 92.2% ranked the ‘Hotel Website’ as Very or Extremely Important’.

In close 2nd is Social Media, ranked as ‘Extremely Important’ by 48.4% of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021. ‘Rich Media’ (such as photos and video) currently sits in 3rd position, ranked as ‘Extremely Important’ by 45.3% of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021. Over the past three months, these two priorities have battled for the 2nd place position, switching places since February 2021. Since February 2021, OTAs continue to hold the 4th position, followed by Channel Manager in 5th position.

We’ve seen a number of hotel trends emerge or re-emerge as a result of the pandemic. Since February 2021, we continue to ask Hoteliers to rank, by order of importance, which trends they plan to continue implementing in the next 12 months. The trends are:

- Focus on Direct channel- Staycations- Sustainable Tourism- Contactless technology- Working from hotel

Hotel Trends that have Emerged or Re-Emerged as a Result of the Pandemic


37

Ranking 4.3 out of 7 in this edition, ‘The Direct channel as the Top Reservation Channel’ is once again considered the most important priority for the majority Hoteliers over the next 12 months. Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, a staggering 85.3% will continue optimizing the direct channel as a top priority.

The ‘Domestic Market & Staycations’ continues to rank 2nd, with 77.3% of Hoteliers classify-ing it also as Very or Extremely Important over the next 12 months.

On the flip side, ‘Working from Hotels’ is still at the bottom of the list in 5th position, fol-lowed by ‘Contactless Technology’ (4th) and the ‘Focus on Sustainable Tourism’ (3rd).

Nevertheless, both the focus on sustainable tourism and the use of contactless technolo-gy has increased slightly. ‘Contactless Technology’ increased from 3.6 in March 2021 to 3.7 today. Meanwhile, the focus on sustainable tourism has increased from 3.6 in March 2021 to 3.8 today.

No surprises here, ‘Domestic Leisure’ is once again expected to be the strongest contributor to recovery by the majority of Hoteliers in April 2021. However, this number decreased from 60.0% of Hoteliers surveyed in March 2021, to 49.3% today.

Consequently, the expectation for International Leisure Travel and Domestic Business Travel is growing. Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 25.3% expect International Leisure to be the strongest contributor to recovery - marking a 3.0% increase from those who shared this view in March 2021.

Which Segment will be the first to Contribute to Your Recovery once Restrictions are Lifted?


38

Of the Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 72.0% expect Domestic Travel to be the strongest contributor to recovery. Just 28.0% expect the same from International travel.

Contrary to the downward trend registered since December 2020, our April 2021 survey re-sults show the expectation for Leisure Travel and Business Travel has increased.

March 2021 survey results show ‘Business’ travel reached the lowest point since the the 1st edition of the Hotelier PULSE Report. Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 however, 25.3% expect ‘Business Travel’ to significantly contribute to recovery - up 8.0% from those who shared this view in our March 2021 survey. Consequently, the expectation for ‘Leisure Travel’ decreased in the same percentage, now at 74.7% (vs 82.1% in edition 13).

Domestic

Domestic vs International

International


39

Which Segment will be the first to Contribute to Your Recovery once Restrictions are Lifted?

avel

vel

ravel

Travel

Domestic Business Tr

Domestic Leisure Tra

International Business T

International Leisure

While the majority of Bed & Breakfasts and Resorts expect Domestic Leisure travel to make the strongest contribution to recovery, the majority of City Center Hotels expect the same of International Leisure Travel. This runs contrary to survey results published in edition 13, where the majority of City Center Hotels expected Domestic Leisure to be the number 1 con-tributor to recovery.

In this edition, Domestic Leisure does not even reach 2nd place for City Center Hotels, and is surpassed by Domestic Business Travel. Of City Center Hotels surveyed in April 2021, 40.0% expect International Leisure to significantly contribute to recovery, followed by Domestic Business Travel at 31.4%. Meanwhile, 25.7% of City Center Hotels expect Domestic Leisure to contribute to recovery, followed by just 2.9% who expect the same of Domestic Business Travel.

Meanwhile, 70.6% of Bed & Breakfasts and 69.6% of Resorts expect Domestic Leisure to be the strongest contributor to recovery. Of Resorts surveyed in April 2021, 17.4% expect Domestic Business to significantly contribute to recovery, while 8.7% of Bed & Breakfasts expect the same of International Leisure Travel.

Just 1.8% of Bed & Breakfasts expect Domestic Business travel to significantly contribute to recovery. No Bed & Breakfasts expect this of International Business travel. As for Resorts surveyed in April 2021, just 8.7% expect International Leisure to significantly contribute to recovery, followed by just 4.4% who expect the same of International Business travel.


40

Key Takeaways

01

02

03

ADR expectations have reached a positive terrain for the

first time since the start of the crisis, improving significant-

ly since November 2020. Our April 2021 survey results show

more Hoteliers expect to maintain or increase prices over

the next 12 months.

The majority of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 expect vac-

cination levels per destination to significantly impact the

uptick of events.

Over 50.0% of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 expect lim-

itation for business travel to be slight or no limitation from

the first quarter of 2022 onwards.

41

We continue to track the evolution of industry expectations around consumer behaviour and the impact on business. The following consumer behaviour concerns were rated on a scale of 1 to 7 by Hoteliers - with 1 considered ‘Not Important’ and 7 considered ‘Extremely Important’.

In our April 2021 edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report, Hoteliers seemed less preoccupied with the consumer behaviour concerns that loomed over the industry since the start of the pandemic in 2020, such as: Tighter Budgets, Health & Safety, and Flight Capacity. In this edition however, we seeincreasing concern over Health & Safety and Tighter Consumer Bud-gets, while less Hoteliers are concerned about the impact of Flight Capacity.

Of the consumer behaviour concerns analysed, ‘Health & Safety’ is once again number 1, followed by ‘Flight Capacity’ in 2nd, and ‘Tighter Budgets’ in 3rd.

‘Consumer Health & Safety Precautions’ now sits at 6.0 on a scale of 1 to 7 (vs 5.9 in edition 13). Flight Capacity now ranks 5.6 out of 7 (vs 5.6 in edition 13). ‘Tighter Budgets’ now rank 4.6 out of 7 (vs 4.6 in our 13th edition).

Across all property segments, and for the second time in a row since the launch of our Ho-telier PULSE Report series back in April 2020, zero Hoteliers ranked these concerns as ‘Ex-tremely Important’ in this edition.

On a scale from 1 to 7, rate the following concerns and the impact they have on your business:


42

Out of all property segments, Bed & Breakfasts are the most concerned with Health and Safety precautions, rating it 6.1 out of 7. City Center Hotels represent the majority of re-spondents most worried about ‘Tighter Consumer Budgets’, at 5.0 out of 7. City Center Hotels are also the most concerned about Flight Capacity - ranking it 6.2 out of 7.

Meanwhile, Resorts represent the majority of respondents least worried about tighter bud-gets and flight capacity. The majority of City Center Hotels do not expect health & safety precautions to hinder travel when restrictions ease.

We continue to ask Hoteliers to rate, on a scale of 1 to 7 (with 7 being the highest level), their expectations on whether ADR, Marketing Spend, and the Importance of Direct Book-ings will increase or decrease in the next 12 months.

As the focus on consumer behaviour concerns decreases, the expectation for marketing spend and ADR continues to increase in importance for Hoteliers surveyed. Meanwhile, the majority of Hoteliers across all property segments continue to believe Direct Bookings to significantly increase in importance over the next 12 months - rating it 5.7 out of 7. Bed & Breakfasts represent the majority of respondents focused on the importance of direct bookings in the next 12 months, rating it 5.8 out of 7.

In a scale from 1 to 7 rate your expectation on whether ADR, marketing spend and the importance of direct bookings will increase or decrease:


43

Expectations for Hotel ADR show the most notable change in this edition - now ranking 4.4 out of 7 vs 3.9 in edition 13. This turning point is predominantly led by Resorts, representing the majority of Hotels most likely to increase ADR out of all property segments.

We also see an increasing number of Hoteliers expecting to increase marketing investment, ranking 4.8 out of 7 (vs 4.6 in edition 13). City Center Hotels also represent the majority of respondents expecting to increase marketing spend, rating it 4.9 out of 7.

For the first time in our Hotelier PULSE Report series, we asked Hoteliers in April 2021 to to rank, by order of importance, which of the following measures will significantly impact the uptick of Hotel Meetings & Events over the next 12 months:

- Airline tests & checks- Digital passport- Vaccination of delegates- Level of vaccination in destination- Assurance of Clean & Safe or Social Distancing Regulations

Hoteliers’ Expectations on Meetings and Events (MICE)

Rank by order of importance which of the following issues will be more impactful on the uptick of Events for Hotels over the next 12 months:


44

Our April 2021 survey results show the the order in which each issue is likely to impact the uptick of events, listed below:

1. Level of vaccination in destination

2. Assurance of Clean & Safe or Social Distancing Regulations

3. Vaccination of delegates

4. Airline tests & checks

5. Digital passport

The majority of Bed & Breakfasts expect Airline Tests & Checks to significantly impact the uptick of events. The majority of City Center Hotels expect vaccination levels per desti-nation to significantly impact the uptick of events, while the majority expect the same of ‘Clean & Safe/Social Distancing Regulations’.

Hoteliers’ Expectations on Business Travel

Please rank the degree of limitation to which you think Covid-19 will limit your Business Travel Plans for the following periods below.

For the first time in The Hotelier PULSE Series, we also asked Hoteliers in April 2021 to rank the degree to which Covid-19 will limit Business Travel Plans from now until the end of 2022.


45

The majority of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021 expect Covid-19 to extremely or moderately limit business travel plans until the end of 2021. From the start of 2022 onwards, the situa-tion is expected to invert to minor limitations.

Of Hoteliers surveyed in April 2021, 64.2% expect to face extreme or moderate limitations from July to August 2021. Meanwhile, 60.0% expect the same from October to December 2021. By the first six months of 2022, approximately 52.0% of Hoteliers expect to experience slight or minor limitations to Business travel plans.


46

Conclusions

Following the gloom and doom of second and third waves across the globe, our May 2021 edition shows that the light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter each day. More hotels have reopened for business, and the industry’s confidence in consumer appetite to travel is growing.

Nearly 60.0% of Hoteliers surveyed in April expect their revenue to increase in 2021 vs 2020, which suggests a growing confidence in a swift recovery once restrictions are lifted and everyone is free to travel over the summer. As such, Hoteliers surveyed continue to prioritize optimizing their direct channels (including the hotel website) and reshaping their marketing strategies to capture the returning demand.

With the travel boom on the horizon, it is essential for all facets of tourism, from hotels to tour operators and commercial airlines to keep an open line of communication and coordi-nate efforts. Hotels will also have to uphold competitiveness in order to capitalize on the demand. How hotels capture the returning demand will depend on what steps are taken to remain competitive, as well as the level communication and coordination across the wider tourism industry.

To stay informed and better position yourself for the travel boom at your doorstep, take our May 2021 survey.

Go To Survey


47

About This Report

For the 14th Edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report, we surveyed 89 key decision-makers at hotels. Group CEOs/Property Managers represent the majority of our respondents at 32.6%, followed by General Managers at 31.5%. The remaining respondents include Front Office Managers (18.0%), followed Revenue Managers/e-Commerce Managers (10.1%), Marketing Directors & Managers (3.4%), and Sales Managers and IT Managers (each at 2.3%). The overwhelming majority of our respondents come from Europe (85.4%); followed by North America (9.0%), South America and Africa (each 2.3%), and Asia (1.1%) Most of our respon-dents are from ‘City Center Hotels, at 48.3%, followed by Resorts (32.6%), and Bed & Break-fasts (19.1%).

https://blog.ghotw.com/4-secrets-to-successful-virtual-meetings/?utm_source=4SecretsForSuccessfulVirtualMeetings&utm_medium=May2021&utm_campaign=14thEditionHotelierPULSEReport

https://blog.guestcentric.com/hotel-adr-to-decrease-or-not-to-decrease/?utm_source=HotelADRBlog&utm_medium=May2021&utm_campaign=14thEditionHotelierPULSEReport

50






editor’s - guestcentric

Documents