Losses mount for 5-star hotel chains due to COVID closures

Peninsula operator makes first staffing cuts even as open properties lack guests

20200806 Mandarin Oriental Bangkok COVID

Mandarin Oriental, like other hotel operators, has been eager to reassure guests that it is taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but few are checking into its properties in Bangkok and other cities. © Reuters

KENJI KAWASE, Nikkei Asian Review chief business news correspondent

August 7, 2020 12:01 JST

HONG KONG -- Peninsula Hotels has long prided itself on having a higher ratio of staff to guests than other luxury chains.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, with few guests to go around, the Hong Kong-based group has been cutting staff for the first time and now looks set to post its first net loss since the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.