CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD published a report on Batumi hospitality market. According to the report, 2020 definitely will be dramatic for Batumi Hotels and its tourism and hospitality market in general. Crisis will be hard to weather for both branded and non-brand facilities. The main threats are increased unemployment and closure of smaller and medium-sized hospitality businesses.
The survey reviled some interesting points with regard to the pricing strategy for when the lockdown is lifted and the flights are resumed. In contrast to Tbilisi, where one half of hotel representatives do not intend to make any changes in the pricing policy, 86% of the Batumi hoteliers believe that pricies will be revised and that the average daily rates (ADR) will be dropped. It is important to note that in contrast to the branded hotels, the guesthouses average much lower ADRs; therefore, the change in their price level will not be as drastic as that of the branded hotels.
Position of hotels regarding the staff policy also differs from one another. Part of the currently operating hotels (71%) could maintain the employees fully. As most of the hotels allocated for quarantine are nonbranded lodging facilities and/or guesthouses that operate seasonally, their involvement in quarantine has led them to hire new employees. This means that when these hotels end their partnership with the government, they will terminate current contract with temps leading to further unemployment.
