
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions on domestic and international travel, economic activity, and individual movement are having an unprecedented impact on the lodging and tourism industry in Latin America. While government authorities across the region work to manage restrictions and phased reopening plans, uncertainty prevails over the duration of the global pandemic.

Each year, HVS reviews and analyzes the Canadian hotel lending environment following a comprehensive survey. With the unprecedented change that 2020 has brought, this year’s survey looks to gain clarity on the current lending environment and the overall health of the hotel finance sector across the nation.

Through Q3 2020, RevPar in Canada continues to deteriorate, declining 61% over 2019. Hotels in the luxury segment and those with more than 500 rooms have taken the brunt of the impact. Covid-19 is not affecting markets uniformly across the country. The Okanagan and Northern Ontario markets have fared best with decreases of 33% and 35% while the hardest hit market, Downtown Montreal has a RevPAR decline close to 80%. With the pandemic not slowing, we don’t foresee improvement until the spring.

Nevada began its emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown on May 9, 2020, after Nevada’s Governor Steve Sisolak authorized certain businesses, including restaurants and retail establishments, to reopen with limitations. Nevada’s casinos were allowed to reopen on June 4, 2020, with restrictions. This article provides an update of the status of the Las Vegas market since Nevada’s casinos were allowed to reopen.

Mobile phone proliferation and the rise in social media users is poised to present unique opportunities for hotel companies. How are hotels currently utilizing social media marketing and are they ready for the future?

Through Q2 2020 the Canadian lodging industry is experiencing a RevPAR decrease of close to 55%. The luxury segment and hotels with more than 500 rooms have taken the brunt of the Covid-19 impact on lodging demand. The summer leisure domestic demand should prove a short term uptick in Q3.

In an ideal world, the restaurant industry would reopen after the Covid-19 pandemic to hordes of diners hungry to make up for lost time. The reality, however, is that a large percentage of former customers simply won’t have money to spend dining out.

Unprecedented declines in Covid-19 RevPARs in March in every major market throughout Canada, is expected to continue through next quarter as well.

Hotel demand held steady in 2019 however new inventory caused national occupancy to decline by 1 point to 65%. Average rate growth mitigated the impact leading to a virtually flat RevPAR year.

With the Coronavirus scare gaining momentum, this article revisits the 2003 SARS pandemic, seeking insight into the potential impact on individual markets and travel as a whole.