…according to CHATA’s preliminary figures
WILLEMSTAD - Since reopening the border to a list of specific countries, CHATA has been monitoring hotel occupancy on a weekly basis among its members and the month of August was of no exception.
Based on an average of 9 hotels, preliminary figures indicate a 25.2% hotel occupancy for the month of August 2020. Compared to hotel occupancy figures of August 2019 (75.7%), this is a decrease of 66.7%.
Already published August figures indicate that Curaçao welcomed a total of 9227 visitors of which 7518 (89%) are from Europe. Of these 7518 European visitors, 19% stayed in a large hotel, while 45% stayed in an alternative accommodation.
Tourism recovery remains a challenge. With hotel occupancy figures in August ranging from 17% to 33% and some even at 0% occupancy, hotels are still experiencing booking cancellations and postponements. According to CHATA’s weekly hotel performance monitoring an average of 248.5 booking cancellations were registered in the month of August. This is an average of 56 more booking cancellations than booking postponements in the same month. The top three reasons for cancellations are: closed border for USA travelers, overall travel scare and a combination of the mandatory PCR test and ticket prices.
Even though the above-mentioned hotel performance figures are preliminary, as not all properties have reported yet, it already gives a clear indication on the situation and CHATA does not expect much to any change. This is an indication that hotel performance remains a challenge and does not even reach break-even. Consequently, some properties are still not able to open for business and are postponing their opening date. September and October tend to be challenging months, as they are considered to be months of low season. Hotels now must lower projections even more for the remainder of 2020, as there is no clarity yet on how the market will develop.
It can be concluded that as long as the visitor capacity to our island remains limited to 10,000 and we remain open for limited countries, two key factors, the road to recovery may be longer than anticipated. CHATA will continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep the community informed on all developments in this regard.
