With peak-season occupancy rates as low as 8pc, the industry is seeking emergency government aid
Hong Kong's reeling hotel industry has launched a crisis survey to assess the extent of financial losses suffered in the wake of the Sars outbreak.
Overall hotel occupancy figures have fallen to 20 per cent, with some hotels reporting single-digit occupancy rates of below 8 per cent in the first two weeks of this month.
Fears and safety precautions in the face of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak have already prompted the cancellation or postponement of major exhibitions and conferences.
Among a list of drastic cost-cutting measures to cope with the crisis, hotel staff are increasingly being asked either to take a pay cut, typically of 20 per cent, or to take three months of unpaid leave.
Despite the government allocation of $11.8 billion to help boost the economy, which includes a $1 million loan scheme for each hotel, the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners says the upper limit of the loan is too small to bail them out.