Impacts of COVID-19 on selected tourism industry branches 2

 Accommodation and food service 


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Hotel

Globally, hotels have reported having extremely low occupancy rates, or have experienced closures on a massive scale. Big hotel chains have seen their stock price plunge as a result. In Europe it was estimated that 76% of hotels were closed. According to STR, in the first week of May many countries had an average occupancy rate lower than 30%. Some shared accommodation categories, such as hostels or camping, may be impacted in the longer term. 


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Shared accommodation platform economy

The virus outbreak has put shared accommodation platforms under pressure, with reported declines in apartment bookings. In May, Airbnb cut 25% of workforce29. 


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Holiday resorts

Ski resorts were forced to end the winter season earlier due to increasing coronavirus spread, and those that have successfully diversified to develop an alternative summer season offer are increasing seeing this at risk. The future for beach resorts in the Northern hemisphere summer remains uncertain. 


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Restaurants

 Food and catering service providers had initially been required in many countries to increase social spacing in eating establishments, limit their activity to delivery only in some instances, or entirely shut down activities. Even as restrictions are being lifted, food-related activities are still limited. In the United States, the National Restaurant Association estimates that the industry’s sales will decline by USD 225 billion during the three months from March, prompting the loss of between five and seven million jobs30. In France, lock down measures introduced in March resulted in the closing of 75 000 restaurants, 3 000 clubs, and 40 000 cafes, affecting 1 million employees, who have been temporarily laid off and placed on technical unemployment31. 


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