Skift Take
Hotels and other travel brand names did see excellent numbers as they headed into the holiday season, but we’re most likely to see signs of consumers tapping the breaks in the early part of 2022. Let’s hope that will be short-lived.
Jason Clampet
Premier Inn owner Whitbread said on Wednesday lodging at its UK hotels has stayed strong in current weeks, regardless of the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, with third-quarter sales in the country increasing 3.1%.
The hotel chain operator repeated it anticipates sales at its UK hotels to totally recuperate this year and stated overall like-for-like sales were 5% higher for the 13 weeks to Nov. 25.
However, Whitbread warned of headwinds from restored pandemic-related curbs in Germany.
The hospitality industry was amongst the worst-hit throughout the early phases of the pandemic, however hotels, dining establishments and other social places began seeing an uptick in footfall in 2015 as vaccination projects picked up and limitations were eased.
“UK lodging sales stayed resilient in December, albeit softening as we moved through the month and into the festive duration as an outcome of the beginning of Omicron,” Chief Executive Officer Alison Brittain said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has actually banked on refraining from lockdowns to handle Omicron, but Germany, a small market for Whitbread, has tightened several rules and lots of leaders there support a general vaccination required.
Whitbread, which likewise owns steakhouses Beefeater and Bar+Block, included that while its hotel performance was strong, the bar and restaurant sector “stays more challenging”.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
This post was from Reuters and was legally accredited through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email secured]
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