COVID-19: Impact on forward hotel bookings in key European markets

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges for global hospitality, with travel restrictions and lockdown measures forcing hotel closures and performance declines that exceed the levels witnessed during the global financial crisis and other challenging times for the industry. An area of the industry where the impact continues to evolve is business on the books, or reservations booked for future dates.

To provide a forward-looking view of the COVID-19 impact on hotel performance, STR utilized data from Forward STAR to analyze business on the books for key European hotel markets

Forward STAR data is processed on a weekly basis for the next 90 days as well as once a month for the next 360 days. As of 15 June, most European capitals were not showing forward occupancy above 20% for the next 90 days.

A few exceptions

In Edinburgh, forward occupancy is 31% for 11-12 September 2020.

Dublin is another market bucking the trend on 11-12 September 2020, which can be attributed to the fact that major events have not yet been canceled. For instance, Dublin Fringe Festival (5-20 September 2020) remains on the calendar.

“Green shoots” in short lead-time business on the books

Although the summer months are still under the pressure of cancellations, we see pickup in short lead-time bookings. In Edinburgh, Dublin and London, we see 0% pickup for the “Next 19 days” as of 15 June. However, Zurich saw a 3% average pickup for the same period reaching a 6% pickup on 15-17 June. Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona and Madrid reported a 1% average pickup for the same period.

What is next and how you can find out?

Business-on-the-books intelligence will help pinpoint recovery and provide much-needed context. Those insights can be accessed for free when you submit your data.
 

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