23 Feb 2022 by ReviewPro in Best Practices
It’s been over two years since the travel industry began its massive global shutdown. After several false restarts, there is a renewed sense of optimism that 2022 will be the year of recovery. In our most recent webinar, we looked at 2022 travel trends for hotel performance in 2022, along with strategies for hotels and lodging operators to overcome the obstacles and seize the opportunities.
2022 Outlook
In 2020, international tourism arrivals plunged by 73% compared to 2019, marking the worst year on record for tourism, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The numbers were only slightly better in 2021, with a modest increase of 4% over 2020.
Looking ahead to 2022, the path to recovery has been disrupted by the Omicron variant, which has spread like wildfire around the globe. According to the UNWTO, international tourist arrivals could grow by 30 to 78% in 2022 compared to 2021, but that’s still 50 to 63% below pre-pandemic levels. The majority of the UNWTO’s global panel of tourism experts, 63%, don’t expect global tourism to recover to 2019 levels until 2024 or later.
However, there are reasons for optimism. In late January, Dr. Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top official in Europe, said that there were signs the pandemic was entering a “new phase, with plausible hope for stabilization and normalization,” although he cautioned that it was still “too early to drop our guard.”
Pandemic Conditions Affecting Hotel Performance in 2022:
The pace and scope of travel recovery in 2022 will hinge on a number of factors, including:
From pandemic to endemic? There is also hope that the pandemic will become endemic, meaning it will become less severe and widespread, and people will learn to live with it, similar to the flu. However, in January WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe cautioned that, “We are certainly not at the point where we are able to call it endemic.”
Vaccine rollout. According to the UNWTO panel, “a rapid and more widespread vaccination roll-out” is critical to the recovery of tourism. Yet, as of February 2022, three billion people in the world remain unvaccinated, many of them in lower-income countries.
Lifting of travel restrictions. Following wide-spread vaccinations, the next prerequisite for recovery is a major lifting of travel restrictions, according to the panel. In many countries, the process has already begun. However, the WHO’s director general warned recently that it is “premature for any country either to surrender, or to declare victory” over the virus.
Traveler confidence. The panel also called for more coordination and clearer information on travel protocols to expedite recovery. Before travel will resume at scale, travelers must feel safe from catching or spreading Covid-19 and confident they will not have to quarantine upon arrival or return.
Covid fatigue. After over two years of pandemic protocols, many people are eager to return to their old way of life and are putting pressure on governments to ease restrictions. More people may decide that the rewards of travel outweigh the risks.
Additional Factors Affecting Hotel Performance in 2022
Aside from pandemic protocols and travel restrictions, other factors expected to affect hotel performance in 2022 include:
Inflation. Inflation is driving up costs across the board for hotels, from real-estate and wages to food and supplies. Global supply chain issues are exacerbating the issue, holding back the equipment and supplies hotels need to operate efficiently.
Staffing shortages. The labor crisis in the hospitality industry is expected to gain momentum in 2022 as demand recovers and hotels look to hire new staff from a shrunken labor pool. This will further drive up wages and will make it difficult for hotels to service demand, recruit new employees, and boost staff morale.
Scaled-back services. Many hotels reduced services during the pandemic and have yet to fully reinstate them. Whether services will be restored in 2022 will depend on the property, but the changes have taken a toll on guest satisfaction.
