After the restrictions were lifted at the end of September, hotels are reporting that guests have begun to return.
”In November, we will likely be extremely close to 2019 figures,” says Sasha Bahremandi, CEO of Queen's Hotel.
At the same time, the industry is having difficulty recruiting experienced personnel.
”"Ever since the restrictions were lifted, it has been going up constantly and it continues to go up," says David Halldén, CEO of Elite Hotels.
In September, the company had 58 percent occupancy at its hotels. During October, that figure increased to 67 percent, and according to David Halldén, this indicates that it will continue to rise even more in November.
”The big difference was that business travel started to come back. For leisure travel, there wasn’t actually a huge difference.”
However, they expect business travel to remain at lower levels at least until 2023.
As guests return to the hotels, the company is recruiting staff for almost all units. But David Halldén sees that there will be a shortage of experienced staff in the industry going forward.
”"We would like to recruit talented, experienced people everywhere, also to build on the fact that we see the market continuing to rise for a period now."”
At Queen's Hotel in Stockholm, both domestic and international tourists returned as restrictions eased. In September, bookings were around 45 percent lower than 2019 levels, but in October the gap dropped to 20-30 percent.
”In November, we will likely be extremely close to 2019 figures,” says Sasha Bahremandi, CEO of Queen's Hotel.
So far, they have a booked occupancy of 60 percent for November.
”"This autumn break is the best we've ever had and we have about 70 percent foreign guests and 30 domestic, which is very unusual."”
From November 2020 to April 2021, the hotel was closed and was forced to lay off a large part of its staff. Since reopening, they have once again returned to the same staff strength as before.
”"It was a bit difficult, but we were pretty quick with recruiting in May. There were many who didn't start until a little later and now we're starting to notice that it's getting harder to recruit."”
At Gothia Towers in Gothenburg, the occupancy rate was approximately 50 percent in October.
”"There is undoubtedly an increase after the restrictions were eased. Weekends are still more occupied, they are between 75-80 percent while weekdays are still lower," says Elisabeth Thomson, hotel and restaurant director at the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Center Gothia Towers.
A combination of autumn holiday celebrations and the Social Democrats' party congress in Gothenburg resulted in a full house at the hotel during the autumn holidays. Gothia Towers also sees bookings continuing well going forward.
”"Then 2022 looks really good. It's a good trade fair year in principle, but then there are the events that have not been canceled but have been moved to 2022."”
Gothia Towers also sees that there are recruitment challenges in the industry.
”"We are in an exciting stage where there are new needs after the pandemic and we also need to recruit new skills. But the fact remains that in specific areas, much around restaurants and cleaning, it is tough to find experienced staff."”
Source: DI.SE
