Check-up or check-in?

Before October 17, 2019, most 4- and 5-star hotels in Beirut reported annual average room occupancy rates of 75 to 80 percent before the first coronavirus case in Lebanon was reported on February 21, 2020. This occupancy rate had been the norm since 2009 and most hotels expected that in 2019, they would exceed that rate and set a record year. According to Ernst & Young Middle East hotel benchmark survey, the occupancy rate in Beirut’s 4- and 5-star hotels slipped to an all-time low of 16 percent by November 2020, down from the previous year’s recorded 69 percent during the same period. In details, we can attribute the low hotel occupancy rate to several reasons. Starting with the global COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the world, followed by the blast that hit Beirut port on August 4, 2020, ending with the worsening financial crisis and political deadlock in Lebanon.