It’s been more than nine months since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. The number of infected people has touched 35 million. Sadly, around a million people have died from the pandemic. With airlines grounded, one of the hardest-hit industries is hospitality. Back in May, we provided an update on how the pandemic was affecting hospitality REITs. Nearly six months later, it’s time to revisit the hotel landscape to see if there is any light at the end of the tunnel.

Local hotel chains struggling

A quick look at some of how our local listed hotel chains are faring paints a glum picture. Hotel Royal Limited (SGX: H12), a hotel group that owns a total of seven hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, reported a downbeat set of earnings for the first half of 2020. Revenue declined by 37.6% year on year to S$17.4 million, and the group incurred a loss of S$3 million, reversing last year’s net profit of S$2.4 million....