About a full year into the COVID-19 pandemic, there's plenty of performance data to consider how China's hotels have fared throughout 2020 as well as the first two months of the first quarter of 2021.
Lower-tier hotels continue to shine
Midscale and economy class hotels led Mainland China occupancy prior to COVID-19, and the pandemic only widened the gap between lower-tier and higher-tier hotel performance.
Midscale and economy hotel affordability likely contributed to their strong occupancy when compared to the other hotel classes. Demand from healthcare personnel and other key workers, along with less historic reliance on group demand, also helped to foster quicker recovery among lower-tier hotels.
Party on: Lunar New Year lifts occupancy
Even localized lockdowns couldn’t dim the Lunar New Year celebrations this year. While occupancy did not reach 2019 levels, traditional travel patterns have returned.
Occupancy declined in the days leading up to the weeklong holiday as business travel tapered off. In the days following Lunar New Year, occupancy rose due to leisure demand as residents traveled throughout the open parts of the market to visit family and enjoy time off work.
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