IF Hong Kong's hotels seem empty this summer, it's not just a tourist shortage: staff have been thin on the ground too.
Up to 50 per cent of Hong Kong's hotel workers have been on holiday at any one time this summer, as managers have used the slump to clear huge staff holiday backlogs.
As well as clearing stockpiled staff holidays, empty hotel rooms have been filled with painters and decorators.
Holiday Inn Golden Mile general manager Michael Horsburgh said the hotel was taking as best advantage as it could of the 15 per cent fall in average occupancy rates that it has faced over the last 12 months.
'It's a case of tightening one's belt,' he said. 'We are clearing holidays and outstanding leave, decorating rooms and increasing repairs and maintenance. We are doing all we can't normally do.' Ritz Carlton general manager Des Pugson said about 50 per cent of his staff had been on holiday at any one time over the summer. But he said the World Bank conference would put an end to that level of absence. 'I think most of us are looking at this as the lull before the storm,' he said.
Hong Kong Hotels Association executive director James Lu said last year's record occupancy rates and a largely successful handover had prevented staff from taking time off. 'People have accumulated two years' leave,' he said.
But they were all back now as the industry prepared for next month's World Bank conference, he said.
