October 13, 2020//-Less than half of the hotel workers who were actively employed before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Kenya had resumed work by the end of September, with the sector still grappling with low customer numbers three months since the government started re-opening the economy.
A Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) survey shows that only 44 percent of hotel staff in Nairobi had resumed work by end of last month while in other parts of the country it was 45 percent, relative to the employment numbers in February.
Although 89 percent of hotels in the country have resumed operations, up from 35 percent in April and May, the sector is still being affected by low tourist and traveller numbers, and job losses and pay cuts that have reduced the spending power of many Kenyans.
As a result, many hotels are operating below capacity, with an average bed occupancy of just 24 percent, thus limiting their ability to recall staff who had been put on unpaid leave or laid off.
“Relative to the employment numbers in February, findings show that employment continues to recover to pre-COVID (February) levels, averaging 45 percent in September compared with 37 percent in May,” said CBK in the survey, which was done ahead of last months monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
“A majority of the hotels indicated that the reduced employees mainly reflected furloughs and postponement of employment contract renewals.”
The CBK survey also found that on average, 58 percent of hotels expect to attain normal (pre Covid-19) operations in accommodation and restaurant services by the end of next year, with 42 percent uncertain over when they would do so, citing dependence on how the pandemic evolves.
“Nairobi hotels mainly cited the expected increase in conference activities following the resumption of international flights and easing of Covid-19 restrictions,” said the survey.
“However, a few hotels indicated that the main impediment to their resumption of normal operations was high costs of compliance with the required health protocols amid low business revenues.”
