Concrete Analysis | A hotel for new mums and older residents? Hong Kong owners get creative to beat industry slump

A dedicated floor for entertainment, work-from-home packages and a place for new mums with childcare support are among recent new ideas

When tourists return in full force, will Hong Kong hotels return to their old business models, or build resilience for the next crisis?

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The Dorsett in Wan Chai is designated as a hotel of travellers in quarantine. Hotel operators can take the necessary steps to fulfil the criteria of a quarantine hotel to help fill the rooms. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 12:05pm, 25 May 2021Updated: 4:56pm, 25 May 2021

Around the world, hotel owners have been slammed by the Covid-19 pandemic as travel ground to a halt. According to the World Tourism Organization, tourist arrivals slumped 73 per cent in 2020 globally.

In Hong Kong, the news was just about as bad as it can get. There were just 16,538 foreign visitors in the first quarter of 2021 compared with nearly 3.5 million a year earlier and 18 million in the first three months of 2019, according to data published by the Tourism Board.

The influx of international tourists the city had been accustomed to for the past two decades has been reduced to a trickle as various restrictions forced travellers to stay at home. As a result, all types of accommodation from luxury hotels to budget hostels have suffered.

One may think that with the disappearing number of tourists, most of these rooms should be empty. Yet, there have been plenty of surprises. Overall occupancy rate has been picking up since February, when it dipped to 30 per cent in the worst month of 2020, and has risen above 50 per cent since August.

Why? Besides the mandatory quarantine requirements and other forms of assistance from the government, hotel owners and operators have adopted some creative ways to fill the rooms to survive the unprecedented crisis.

Staycation or transformation

People in Hong Kong are staying at home too. So one option is to tempt locals to take a break or enjoy a “staycation.” Lower prices, special deals and extra touches of luxury that guests would normally have to pay for can create a very attractive proposition.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Concrete Analysis | A hotel for new mums and older residents? Hong Kong owners get creative to beat industry slump

Concrete Analysis | A hotel for new mums and older residents? Hong Kong owners get creative to beat industry slump