Marriott International released a business update today in which the company revealed that roughly 25 percent of its 7,300-plus hotels worldwide remain temporarily closed, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and measures to contain its spread.
With approximately 25 percent of its 7,300-plus hotel properties worldwide closed down due to the global health crisis, Marriott said that it, "anticipates further hotel closures and erosion in RevPAR performance and does not expect to see a material improvement until there is a view that the spread of COVID-19 has moderated and governments have lifted restrictions."
While that may be true about conditions as taken together globally, China is demonstrating early signs of recovery. COVID-19 began impacting this region first in late January 2020 and, with the contagion now coming under control there, travel restrictions and quarantine measures are relaxing.
Marriott said it has experienced steadily improving RevPAR trends since March, with occupancy rising to around 20 percent during the first week of April. Its number of shuttered hotels within Greater China has decreased from 90 in mid-February to now less than 20.
The rest of the world, however, has not yet stabilized enough to escape its negative trend. North American hotels are seeing occupancy of around ten percent, with sixteen percent of properties currently closed and further shutdowns expected to come.
European occupancy is below ten percent with 79 percent of its supply closed; Africa and the Middle East report 54 percent of properties are closed; while closure levels in Latin America and the Caribbean are at roughly 69 percent.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) totals also declined throughout February and March everywhere, except in Greater China, as the pandemic accelerated in other areas of the globe.
The company said that it expects March RevPAR numbers have fallen about 60 percent worldwide, with regional declines of around 57 percent occurring in North America, 71 percent in Europe, 56 percent in Africa and the Middle East, 57 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean and 74 percent in the Asia Pacific region (83 percent in Greater China and 68 percent elsewhere in Asia).
Marriott continues to donate some of its inventory to helping healthcare workers who are battling COVID-19 on the front lines in some of the United States' hardest-hit communities through an initiative called 'Rooms for Responders,' with support from its credit card partners.
The company has committed to providing up to $10 million worth of free hotel stays for these heroes during the crisis.
In the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America, nearly 2,500 Marriott hotels are also participating in its 'Community Caregiver Program,' which offers special rates for healthcare professionals and first responders who need to book hotel rooms near the hospitals where they're working.
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