Skift Take
China is dusting itself off from a major winter stumble in its road to a complete pandemic hotel recovery. While the year ahead looks good, forecasts by hotel executives of a complete rebound by December seem unlikely.
The story for much of the pandemic has been that China would lead the hotel industry’s recovery from its catastrophic collapse last year.
But that comeback isn’t as far along as some of the upbeat investor call takes would have you believe.
“Generally, while owners and operators are optimistic about this year’s performance against last year’s, many are still cautious about projecting revenues returning to pre-pandemic levels this year,” said Ling Wei Tan, vice president of Greater China at JLL Hotels & Hospitality. “This trepidation has been heightened given the risks of local outbreaks similar to the one earlier this year.”
The leaders of hotel companies like Marriott and Hyatt touted China’s rapid recovery on several of their most recent earnings calls. Marriott leaders even predicted they would return to pre-pandemic revenue levels at some point this year.
But hoteliers in China hit a notable roadblock due to winter flare-ups of new coronavirus cases, particularly in northern parts of the country
