Duetto Pulse: European hotel sector feels the impact of COVID lockdown 2.0

Duetto Pulse: European hotel sector feels the impact of COVID lockdown 2.0

Latest findings in the bi-weekly report from the accommodation sector revenue strategy specialist

The latest edition of the Duetto Pulse Report shows that the multiple lockdowns imposed across Europe over the last two weeks have had real effects on the region’s hotel industry.

Second lockdowns in Germany, France and the UK came into force at the start of November, in response to a severe hike in COVID cases.

The effect on pick up has been noticeable as people clearly prefer to hold off on booking trips as they await government announcements and a fall in COVID cases.

Despite some positive pick up variance for new bookings for stays in November of +164% in comparison to the previous Pulse Report, new bookings slowed down again for December and January (-61% and -25% respectively) as the region waits to find out what restrictions will be in place for the festive holiday period.

Interestingly, the data also shows that despite everything, there remains an appetite for travel in the EMEA region as a whole.

The variance in web traffic compared to previous weeks remains positive. The week-over-week increases are small, yet consistent, with the exception of November which saw a drop of 6%.

For the UK and Ireland, the Pulse Report has shown very moderate increases in net pick up over the last few months despite increased restrictions, and the pace of cancelations is definitely slower in this region than in other parts of EMEA.

According to the most recent Pulse Report, pick up continues to slow down with a net variance in pick up of -23%, -47%, and -46% for November, December and January respectively, compared to the previous edition of the report.

Juan Ruano, Duetto director of hospitality solutions for EMEA, said: “We are currently in a ‘transition period’ as countries try to control the COVID wave across Europe.

“The increase in pick up in November is positive but we should be careful not to misinterpret this.

“The healthy positive variance is due only to the fact that in the previous edition of the Pulse Report activity stopped as countries went into lockdown and cancelations had started to come through at a very high pace.

“Web traffic continues to increase but at a much more moderate rate than in previous weeks.

“I believe this is a sign of people staying put and waiting to see whether plans can be made for the holiday season.

“There is a lot of uncertainty out there that is finally catching up with consumers now that there is plenty of availability and if travel is allowed they will be able to get rooms and some really good deals.”

The Duetto Pulse Report is a bi-weekly report available for free to hoteliers from around the world. It tracks key metrics for North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC. Subscribe here: https://www.duettocloud.com/pulse-signup