Major hotels taking steps to prevent Covid-19

By PETER ESILA
MAJOR hotels in Port Moresby such as The Hilton, The Stanley Hotel and Suits, Holiday Inn and Airways are taking measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the face of difficult economic times.
“For us, it is a very difficult time,” Stanley Hotel and Suits general manager Geoff Haigh said.
“We are managing the hotel as best we can in these uncertain times to take the best possible care of our guests and staff.”
The Hilton general manager John Lucas said it was too early to accurately measure the financial impact of Covid-19.
“In this environment, we prefer not to have a specific hotel’s performance cited as it may be interpreted as commentary on our entire network,” he said.
“We have withdrawn our guidance and we’re planning to update the market with more information on our response to Covid-19 when we report our first quarter earnings.”
Holiday Inn general manager Robert Coates said the hotel remained open with health measures in place.
“The situation is fluid and we continue to work through the implications of recent Government announcements with the wellbeing of our colleagues and guests as our top priority,” Coates said.
“At this stage, the hotel remains open, but we will provide updates if this changes.”
Airways Hotel general manager Sushil Gordon said they had encouraged some of their staff to avail their annual leave or leave without pay and stay home.