U.S. Hotel Performance Slips While China Roars Back to Life
Photo Credit: China saw a rapid recovery in hotel performance last week while the U.S. continued a steady decline. Wikimedia / Adi Constantin
Skift Take
The U.S. and China are riding a hotel performance see-saw where one goes up as the other comes down. But travel analysts and executives are downplaying the notion the Delta variant is going to lead to a travel doomsday scenario over the fall and winter.
The world’s two largest economies are sending mixed signals on travel demand, but hoteliers may be able to avoid the kind of Delta variant performance plummet some previously feared.
China’s hotel market saw strong recovery momentum in recent weeks following a Delta variant outbreak that sent more than half the country’s provinces into another round of travel restrictions. The U.S., which had its own surge in cases several weeks later, saw a decline — albeit significantly slighter — in occupancy rates due to the country largely remaining open for domestic travel.
But the biggest question among travel industry executives remains what happens this fall if corporate travel doesn’t kick back in. It likely won’t be the fall-off-the-cliff scenario some envisioned only weeks ago.
“We expect that [U.S.] leisure demand is going to continue to be pretty healthy. It's not going to be mid-week anymore, obviously, but we do still think tha
