Arne Sorenson, CEO and President of International Marriott Hotels, thinks the recovery process will reach to Europe last while the occupancy rate of hotels in Asia begins to increase after the coronavirus pandemic. International Marriott Hotels, which has temporarily closed a quarter of its hotels worldwide because of a depleted occupancy and limited revenue per room, said revenue per room fell by up to 90% in April. Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s CEO and President said the pandemic first impacted Marriott’s China portfolio, but it was announced that occupancy had risen from single digits to 30%, according to current figures. Also the Chinese government expected to revive domestic tourism, indicating that occupancy rates rose by up to 70% during the Labor Day holiday, Sorenson said, this recovery was observed in North America as some regions relaxed the rules and the beaches reopened. According to Skift, Sorenson said increased occupancy rates in the United States shows pent-up travel demand is out there, though that is not enough. Sorenson, like most hotel executives and analysts, thinks that the first group of drive-to and leisure travels will be active, and said that that improvement means recovery could come to some segments of Marriott’s global portfolio before others. “Europe, unlike China and the U.S., is more meaningfully dependent on long-haul travel,” Sorenson said. “Because of its dependence on air and long-haul travel, it will probably be the slowest to return to levels we enjoyed before Covid-19.” But the Marriott group stressed the company is still in strong financial shape to withstand a long-term downturn. “We know the recovery could take a while, but we know we have the liquidity to get through this situation,” Marriott Chief Financial Officer Leeny Oberg said
