Coronavirus: Hoteliers’ mixed feelings over edict

The government plan to force about 8000 returning travellers to quarantine in hotels for two weeks has met with a mixed response from hoteliers.

Harry Triguboff, who controls 20 Meriton serviced-apartment blocks on the eastern seaboard says‘definitely this is good news’. Picture: John Appleyard

The federal government plan to force about 8000 returning international travellers to quarantine in hotels for two weeks has met with a mixed response from the nation’s embattled hoteliers.

Accor chief operating officer Simon McGrath, who runs the nation­’s largest hotel portfolio, said there was concern about the shifting of responsibility from government to hotels in the way care could be provided for returning travellers.

“The amount of this business is very short-term and has a small impact to industry,” said Mr McGrath, who runs a portfolio of 400 hotels in Australia and New Zealand.

The French-owned Accor, the largest hotel chain in Australia and New Zealand, operates brands includi­ng Sofitel, Peppers, Ibis and Mercure, and has in recent days closed about 20 of its properties throughout Australia due to lack of business.

Senior hotel executives added that, under the federal government hotel quarantine plan, the duty of care for the returning international travellers was being foisted on young hospitality workers, many of whom were only in their early 20s.

Under the arrangement announced by Scott Morrison yesterday, international travellers will be required to quarantine in hotels to contain COVID-19.

This will be enforced by the state and territory governments with the assistance of the Australian Defenc­e Force. The hotel rooms will be funded by the government under individual contracts struck with the hotels.

Malaysian gaming giant Mulpha Australia chief executive Greg Shaw, who owns Sydney’s luxury 509-suite InterContinental Hotel, said the decision would provide short-term relief­ for hoteliers but was not going to be a sustainable solution for the battling hotel industry.

Mr Shaw, who will close the Inter­Continental Hotel on Saturday, said remaining hotels were trading at less than 10 per cent ­occupancy. “It might help for another­ week or so,” he said.

However, one of the nation’s biggest operators of serviced apartments — multi-billionaire Harry Triguboff, who controls 20 Meriton serviced-apartment blocks on the eastern seaboard — told The Weekend Australian “definitely this is good news’’.

“Of course this is good news,” said Mr Triguboff, owner of five Sydney CBD serviced-apartment tower blocks, as well as serviced-apartment towers in Brisbane, ­Melbourne and on the Gold Coast.

But Mr Triguboff said that following­ the Prime Minister’s announcemen­t he would not yet move to re-open the serviced apartments he had already closed, saying, “we will re-open when business has significantly improved”.

Earlier this week, Mr Triguboff said he would close 14 of his 20 ­serviced apartments.

Eastern seaboard hotelier and surgeon Jerry Schwartz said the decision­ to quarantine travellers in hotels was a good one.

“This is about time, because prior to that any international traveller­ coming home was allowed to go home (unsupervised), it was an honesty thing,’’ said Dr Schwartz, who owns 15 hotels, ­ seven of which are in the Sydney CBD, including the Sofitel Darling Harbour.

“Certainly that will help us, and we will be able to help society and do something, and help us isolate Australia.

“The staff remaining who have not been stood down will have something to do. At least they can make a contribution towards hospitalit­y and helping the crisis.”

But Dr Schwartz warned that the state and federal government would have to deal with any corona­virus cases that turned up in the hotel.

“The problem is, if they contract the virus in the hotel, whether they would need to be taken from the hotel and put in whatever quarantine station has been established to deal with the problem,” he said.

“Business is not so much an issue, we know we are in a crisis and we are losing money, we can’t be that selfish and say ‘this is good for business’; this is more (about) helping the community.

“But it’s good news for the hotel industry. Every day is a different consideration: we still have, surpri­singly, 10-15 per cent occupancy.”

Meanwhile, Michael Johnson, the chief executive of hotel lobby group Tourism Accommodation Australia, said that hotels were ready to facilitate the quarantining of arrivals coming to Australia’s inter­national airports.