Spooked by coronavirus, political tension, seven hotels in Shanghai, and Hong Kong likely to delay scheduled opening dates
- Most of the hotels in Hong Kong with plans to open in 2020 could see delays, Knight Frank official says
- Hong Kong faces added pain from expected resurgence of unrest over China’s security law, official says
At least seven hotels in Shanghai and Hong Kong are expected to delay their scheduled opening dates this year due to the collapse in tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic. And the casualty list could grow even longer.
A new report by property consultancy Knight Frank said five Shanghai hotels are likely to delay opening, including the Westbund Hotel Shanghai, with 219 rooms, the Xuhui Binjiang, the J Hotel, with 258 rooms, and the Ritz-Carlton Hongqiao, with 282 rooms.
That’s on top of two hotels in Hong Kong that recently announced they will delay their openings: CK Asset Holdings has deferred the opening of its 840-room Hotel Alexandra in Fortress Hill to an unspecified date, while a consortium of Hong Kong’s biggest developers has pushed back the 206-room The Silveri Hong Kong MGallery in Tung Chung by at least six months.
The hotels in the two cities represent a combined 2,246 rooms.
Others are at risk, too. A total of 27 hotels are scheduled to open across Greater China in 2020, which would add 9,608 rooms.