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“They were the first to be impacted by measures introduced by governments in response to COVID, and will be among the last to recover,” Ms Labine-Romain says in the report.
“Domestic demand will have to deliver in this recovery, with international tourism unlikely to return in a meaningful way until at least 2022, with the exception of the just-announced travel bubble with New Zealand in the first instance, and talk of the same in parts of Asia and the Pacific down the track.”
For operators IHG and Accor, the development pipeline that started before the global pandemic hit, is now coming to fruition with many hotels due to open in the coming year. TFE is also active and is due to open the new A by Adina in George Street, Sydney.
An artist’s impression of the InterContinental Sorrento, which will open in November.Credit:
Leanne Harwood, managing director - Japan, Australasia & Pacific for IHG Hotels & Resorts, said the sector is still in one of the most challenging periods the industry has ever faced and there is a long way to go until it is back to where it was before the pandemic, especially in Sydney and Melbourne CBD hotels that are so reliant on corporate and event business.
“It is an absolute certainty that the hotel industry will bounce back better than ever in the coming years,” Ms Harwood said.
IHG will open the Holiday Inn Werribee, voco Melbourne Central, Holiday Inn Express Melbourne Little Collins, voco Brisbane City Centre and InterContinental Sorrento in coming months.
Accor has also been active with a swathe of new sites being opened, the most recent being the Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer with Singapore’s Fragrance Group.
Accor Pacific chief executive Simon McGrath said he was delighted to open the new hotel, adding that with the domestic leisure market growing, Australia and New Zealand are well positioned to capture both domestic travellers and returning international travellers when the borders reopen.
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In coming months the group will launch the Porter House Hotel Sydney – MGallery and a new hotel at 412 Pitt Street, Haymarket. In Melbourne it has the new Sebel Melbourne Ringwood and the Mercure Melbourne Doncaster.