Skift Take

It may take until 2022 for bookings to return to pre-coronavirus levels at Ireland's Dalata Hotel Group, but the company also has a sale-leaseback safety net if the travel industry faces an even worse coronavirus downturn.

The chief executive of Ireland’s largest hotel operator, Dalata Hotel Group, believes it will take until 2022 for bookings to return to normalcy.

Dalata has temporarily closed 29 of its 44 hotels in the UK and Ireland but Pat McCann said the group “essentially will never be under threat” as it has the option to sell and lease back some of the 30 hotels it owns if it needs cash beyond the level it has already freed up.

“If I look at our own plans, 2020 is a year to make sure you survive, then 2021 is a year of starting to build back the business and I would see 2022 as the year where you’re getting back to some level of normality in terms of visitor traffic and visitor numbers,” McCann told an Irish Times podcast.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Chris Reese)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Tags: coronavirus, dublin, ireland

Photo credit: Dalata Hotel Group CEO Pat McCann says 2020 is a year for survival, 2021 is one for rebuilding, and 2022 is for the return to normalcy for the company. FesterSXS / Pixabay

Up Next

Loading next stories