Covid-19 pandemic affects hotel industry in Angolan capital

Some hotels in Luanda have already started to make staff redundant while others are considering the same measure, as the occupancy rate is currently less than 10% and there are no company meetings in any of them, according to a survey by Jornal de Angola.

Hotel Diamante, in downtown Luanda, saw its occupancy drop sharply from 20% to 7.0% in March, with financial losses of over 30 million kwanzas, according to its managing director, António Simão, who said that of a total of 147 rooms, including suites, only 12 were occupied.

The sharp drop in accommodation services, said the hospitality manager, is in addition to the closure of spaces for business events, such as conferences, wedding, birthday and baptism celebrations, which make a big contribution to revenues.

At the President, another four-star hotel located in downtown Luanda, the situation in no different.

Just like Hotel Diamante, the occupancy rate, that even before the Covid-19 crisis, stood at 50%, fell to around 7.0%, according to its managing director.

With financial losses calculated at more than 200 million kwanzas, in March alone, Hotel President reduced its staff from 220 to 203, a measure which, according to Pedro Portugal, will result in the natural termination of employment contracts that will not be renewed when they finish.

The four-star Skyna Hotel in downtown Luanda has been luckier compared with other hotels and has an occupancy rate of 20%, which is relatively close to the usual rate (between 30% and 35%).

According to its managing director, Joaquim Duque, the higher rate is because the hotel has contracts with oil companies that house their onshore staff there, and with the state of emergency in force since last week preventing inter-provincial movement of people, workers who were already there have not left.

With 187 hotels, 1,200 similar establishments and more than 4,000 restaurants, four years ago Angola had 24,390 rooms, 32,844 beds, 200 travel agencies and 200 car-rental agencies, and up until 2016 the sector employed 219,000 people.