COVID-19 webinar summary: 5 key points on Latin America (31 March)

STR remains committed to keeping the hospitality industry updated on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our webinar series will provide in-depth updates on world regions around the globe. However, if you are unable to watch the full recording during this stressful time, you can find a summary of the key points below.

Step occupancy declines in South America

Due to increased cases in the region, South America saw its steepest occupancy decline (-73.8%) to date during the week ending 22 March.

Brazil is one of the affected countries in South America

The week the WHO declared COVID-19 as pandemic, all markets in Latin America presented declines in the three key performance metrics. However, Brazil was the least affected market, posting an 11% decrease in occupancy that week. However, the COVID-19 situation has ended the recovery period that Brazil showed across all markets in 2019. And most recently, Brazil’s occupancy dropped rapidly (16-22 March) with the country posting a near 70% decline in occupancy.

Rio de Janeiro, the latest market to show declines
 

Rio de Janeiro was the last market in the region to show occupancy declines due to the rebound effect of Carnival celebrations. The market started to see occupancy declines beginning 11 March.

São Paulo occupancy started declining on 9 March

São Paulo occupancy declines started on 9 March, just a few days before Rio de Janeiro. Sao Paolo, as a corporative destination, rarely sees increases during Carnival celebrations. Therefore, the city saw an increase in occupancy during the first days of March (1-7 March), due to rebound effect to carnival 2019.

ADR declines in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo

The two main cities in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, had been posting 10-15% ADR growth on average since the beginning of the year. Rio de Janeiro rate increases spiked during 21-26 February, but fell dramatically in the early days of March due to the rebound effect of Carnival celebration. ADR decreases have been more frequent in each of Brazil’s top two markets.