Manpower affected by leave of absence: Singapore Hotel Association

HOTELS in Singapore, already facing reduced travel demand amid the ongoing virus outbreak, may be hit by another blow - this time, to their manpower.

Kwee Wei-Lin, president of the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), said on Tuesday that the leave of absence has an impact on hotels "to a certain extent", as most of their housekeeping employees and that of their outsourced partners are from China.

Travel restrictions on those with recent travel history to China, including a 14-day leave of absence for returning Singapore residents and long-term pass holders, were put in place last Saturday.

Hence, the association is monitoring the situation closely, Ms Kwee said in response to queries from The Business Times. SHA is also working together with the relevant authorities, including the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Ministry of Manpower, to deal with the labour impact over the immediate term and provide advisories for members.

The association had earlier circulated to its members a checklist on precautionary measures to take during this period. 

Aside from manpower, the travel restrictions have also hit hotels' bookings, with most cancellations coming from China. "A concern that the industry has is whether this will have an impact on new bookings as well," Ms Kwee said.

"We are unsure how the situation will evolve and how long it will last. As such, we are bracing ourselves for all possible scenarios," she said, adding that they hope to ride out the turbulence with the experience from the Sars outbreak and working with the STB.