Australian Hotel Sentiment Survey, Nov 2020

In the five months since the Second Australian Hotel Sentiment Survey in mid-May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to severely impact on the hospitality industry across the globe and at home.

The travel and tourism industry in Australia has effectively had to re-invent itself as domestic markets were forced to become intra-State markets, and international markets remain barred from entering the country.

The accommodation sector continues to suffer: many owners and operators remain ever- challenged as the effects of ongoing economic loss settle in, and the livelihoods of those many staff stood down or temporarily under-employed remain propped up through government relief measures. The uncertainty for many persists.

This Third Australian Hotel Sentiment Survey reports the ongoing status of the accommodation sector now nearing the end of three-quarters of a year of dramatic downturn and economic hardship.  In this report we again seek to highlight those factors underpinning current operational challenges.  We have again gauged what outlook operators hold for performance levels into the immediate future, and probed how operational challenges are unfolding and what solutions owners and operators of accommodations properties are evolving.

It now is evident, our nation’s emergence from the lockdowns and isolation measures means a longer and – unfortunately – harder road to recovery.  This Survey reports on the gradual journey and deliberations to be considered by the accommodation sector in Australia.