Hyatt's China Business Is Down 90 Percent in February From Coronavirus Fallout
Skift Take
Hyatt Hotels had a strong year in 2019, so the story it had to tell on Thursday wasn't all dreary. The problem is that shareholders and guests hate uncertainty. And so far the travel industry faces nothing but uncertainty, left beholden to how the coronavirus crisis evolves.
Talk of coronavirus overshadowed Hyatt Hotel’s strong finish to the year during Thursday’s quarterly earnings call.
CEO Mark Hoplamazian began by acknowledging the company’s staff in the Asia Pacific region, which he said is operating in “extraordinary circumstances and demonstrating a profound commitment to care for their families, for our guests and our customers, for our hotel owners and for the communities in which our hotels operate that have been hard hit by the reduction in travel associated with COVID-19.”
Hyatt — which has had a presence in China for more than five decades —has already closed 26 properties in the country in response to the virus, with many others runn
