LAS VEGAS—At its Americas Business Conference held here at Wynn Las Vegas, Radisson Hotel Group reported that COVID-19 has had an “important impact” on parts of the company’s business.
“It has assumed an important effect on our China business, but it is also fair to say that our China business is very small in terms of fees, so it doesn’t have a significant company effect,” said Federico J. Gonzalez, president/CEO of Radisson Hospitality AB, and chair, global steering committee, Radisson Hotel Group.
He said that it has had an effect in the Asia-Pacific region. “We have seven hotels that the management has closed, not because there were sick people, but simply because the owners decided to close because of low level of occupancy,” he said. “Out of any hotels that we manage, we have not closed any one and we have not had any situations.”
The company did not report any effect in the Americas or EMEA regions.
Gonzalez said that the company is going to take any recommended precautions related to the spread of the virus. “I think what is important is to make sure that we are prudent, that we make sure that all of our hotels are safe and that we take any measures to try to avoid any situation that is problematic,” he said. “We have to be extremely careful to follow what the authorities recommend.”
He said that he has talked with Jin Jiang, the China-based hotel company, which acquired Radisson in 2018. “We are different companies,” said Gonzalez. “They are our shareholders. Obviously what we have is a lot of sympathy and solidarity for anything that may happen… Obviously, they are a serious, responsible company, so I know that they have put in place measures to support owners, to support employees and they are a very responsible company, so I am sure they will more than show respect for that.”
