US-based hospitality company Marriott International has reopened all locations in China as demand rebounds following an increase in business travels.
Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson said that the current hotel occupancy rate in China is around 40%. The figure plummeted to 7% to 8% in February when Covid-19 peaked in the country, reported Reuters.
In a Goldman Sachs conference, Sorenson was quoted by Reuters as saying: “It’s not just leisure travel growing, but it is business travel. Chinese are flying again.”
The company has around 350 locations in China.
Sorenson also said that business is witnessing a steady recovery in the US, where the Marriott’s hotels that remained open had around 20% occupancy.
However, he added that it is expected to take few years for Marriott to achieve the pre-Covid-19 occupancy levels. Last year, global occupancy rate was 71%.
In April, the hospitality company said around 25% of its locations were closed temporarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At that time, 16% of its total number of locations in North America, 79% in Europe and 54% of its hotels in Middle East and Africa region were closed.
Globally, Marriott International has around 7,300 hotels.
The hotel group owns around 30 brands including Ritz-Carlton, St Regis and Sheraton.
As part of its Covid-19 related measures, the company has extended furloughs for some employees and reduced working weeks until early October.
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