Waning Covid Spurs Some YoY Growth in China
Skift Take
- STR said things really improved in China following the belief that the Covid outbreaks were over. Hotel RevPAR for the week ended July 30th in China was up 8.5% year over year while down only -10.3% versus the same week in 2019.
- Travelers from Japan, Taiwan and Macau will be temporarily allowed to enter South Korea without a visa this month.
- Baring Private Equity Asia announced its affiliated real estate funds completed the acquisition of the Sydney Hilton hotel for A$530 million.
STR said things really improved in China following the belief that the Covid outbreaks were over. Hotel RevPAR for the week ended July 30 in China was up 8.5% year over year while down only -10.3% versus the same week in 2019. We wouldn’t get used to those numbers as once again we have a Zero-Covid fail as more than 80,000 tourists have been stranded on the resort of Sanya after a Covid outbreak. China ordered all flights and train links canceled following hundreds of positive cases on Saturday. Covid-19 cases on China’s Hainan province rose to a cumulative 828. The reason is the new variants are so contagious that ZERO COVID will not work. To make things even worse, all those in lockdown must pay for their own extended stay. The province told hotels to halve their rates for tourists but some are reporting the hotels bumped up their rates just before the announcement. Restaurants and entertainment venues are closed there. We are quite certain all 80,000 guests are regretting
