Abstract
The infectious pneumonia caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread rapidly worldwide, crippling the global tourism industry’s development and operations. In Hong Kong, where tourism is a pillar industry, the hotel industry is essential to maintaining a stable economy. Facing multiple forms of pressure, the industry’s status deserves close attention. More than 200 hotels in Hong Kong were taken as the research set in this study. A Python-based web crawler was used to collect daily hotel prices from various online travel agencies. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis, and descriptive analysis were employed to study hotels’ room rate fluctuations over time. Results indicated that room rates across hotels in Hong Kong were primarily influenced by holidays and festivities prior to COVID-19, whereas rates tended to decline after the outbreak. Data analysis based on hotels’ star ratings revealed that 5-star hotels were relatively less affected by COVID-19 while 4- and 4.5-star hotels were most seriously affected. District-level analysis also showed that hotel room rates were differentially influenced by the virus: Hong Kong’s Islands district was hit hardest, followed by Kowloon. These findings offer valuable implications for hotel managers and relevant government departments in making rational decisions based on the current market state.
Highlights
An infectious pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first identified in China in late 2019
What are the shifting characteristics of Hong Kong’s market? Do nuances exist in fluctuations for hotels with different star ratings and in different geographical districts? If so, how should the extent of any negative effects of a given peak or trough be assessed in terms of their likelihood to influence hotel room rates? This study aims to clarify the current status of Hong Kong’s hotel industry
Similar to prior research [40], we identified a “turning point” in hotel room rate growth in all categories based on the occurrence of a peak in the time series where the room rate shifted from ascending to descending
Summary
An infectious pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first identified in China in late 2019. The number of infections has since climbed across the globe: the World Health Organization declared the viral outbreak a “global public health emergency” on 31 January and labeled it a “global pandemic” on March 11. This pandemic has severely damaged economic and industrial development around the world. The tourism industry and hotels play important roles in the Asia-Pacific region’s economic and political climate [2]. It is, necessary to carefully assess the hotel industry’s standing amid COVID-19
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