Hotels globally performed better in the third quarter, but the improvement proved to be only less bad, as COVID-19 continues to roil the world. U.S. hotels in Q3 achieved a gross operating performance per available room (GOPPAR) of $-9.87, which was 58% higher than the GOPPAR recorded in Q2, but 110% down from the same period a year ago, according to data from HotStats.
A hotel’s overall performance is the sum of its parts. Though the bulk of revenue is derived from the renting of rooms, there are other arrows in a hotel’s quiver that can generate cash flow, such as restaurants, bars, meetings and events, spas, golf, parking, retail and more. Therein lies the rub: COVID-19, for now, has all but vanquished these ancillary revenue streams, a blow especially to luxury and full-service hotels that typically offer these services.
COVID-19 dealt the global hospitality industry a vicious blow. A Chuck Norris roundhouse kick combined with a Mike Tyson uppercut that left it immobile. The scores of hotel closures and staggering number of job losses are evidence of the pandemic’s pernicious impact on the industry. An overwhelming number of hotels have suspended operations because of lack of demand, while hotels that remain open are running bare-bone operations.
COVID-19 plunged a knife in the collective heart of the global hotel industry and in one fell swoop destroyed demand, sending revenue and profit to historically low levels. This global pandemic is the most harrowing event to ever besiege the hospitality industry. As stridently as room sales have plummeted, the crash in food and beverage (F&B) is even louder.
