Editor’s Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
Sanya, an island in the South China Sea, ordered a lockdown over the weekend following an increase in positive cases of COVID-19. As a result, around 80,000 visitors are now stuck in hotels until at least August 14, CNBC reports.
Between August 1 and 7, the island reported 689 symptomatic cases and 282 asymptomatic cases. Sanya has halted the sale of train tickets from the island and over 80% of flights to and from Sanya have been cancelled.
In July, more than 2,000 tourists were stranded on Weizhou Island, a resort town in southern China’s Beihai city, after recording more than 500 cases of COVID-19.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February, has resulted in a decline in bookings in Eastern Europe foreign tourists, reports CNN.
Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, Poland’s deputy minister for sports and tourism, told media in late March that cancellations from foreign visitors had increased by 30-40%. Tour operator Last Night of Freedom, which specializes in booking hen and stag parties in the region, said bookings to Krakow in Poland have fallen by 60% this summer.
“People say they don’t want to go somewhere and be seen having fun somewhere where they perceive there are a lot of refugees,” said Matt Mavir, founder of Last Night of Freedom. “Somebody lost their house and you’re there with matching t-shirts, drinking beer – there’s a juxtaposition that’s wrong.”
Real estate investment trust Apple Hospitality REIT has been patient with hotel deals, and Hotel News Now’s Dan Kubacki reports this composure could soon work to his advantage.
“While we were initially underwriting, the portfolios often contained assets that we thought were less additive to our portfolio, and this impacted the value for us, as well as our pricing and competitiveness around the portfolio. “said President and CEO Justin Knight of the company. second quarter earnings call. “As portfolios return to the market, sellers are increasingly willing to consider divesting a subset of the broader portfolio, which positions us to more effectively align portfolio composition than we subscribe with our existing strategy and the portfolio we currently have.”
The Los Angeles City Council decided on Friday that a public vote of Los Angeles voters would take place in 2024 to decide whether hotels in the city would be required to rent unoccupied rooms to homeless peoplereports the Los Angeles Times.
The proposed measure would require hotels to regularly report the number of vacant rooms to the city’s housing department. A program would then pay the “fair market rate” for rooms via prepaid vouchers.
“Hotel owners and operators made up a significant contingent of the packed council chamber, with many arguing that the proposal would unfairly burden hotels and hurt their ability to do business,” the paper reports.
The weekend offered no respite for weary American air travelers who, amid staff shortages and rising fuel costs, endured the chaos of delayed and canceled flights for months. Washington, DC, The Hill newspaper reports that more than 1,500 US carrier flights have been canceled over the weekend and thousands more delayed.
The worst of the past weekend was experienced at Chicago’s Midway Airport, where around 14% of flights were canceled – the highest percentage of any US airport, The Hill reports.
Comments are closed.