Chris Nassetta, CEO of Hilton Hotels, announced that more than 60% of its workforces furloughed after the pandemic and he said that it would take years to achieve pre-pandemic performance and new approaches were needed.

The firm suffered a shockwave with the pandemic after it was noted that 2019 was the strongest year with the 100th anniversary celebrations of Hilton Hotels held last year. The company, which has stopped and restricted many operations worldwide, has furloughed employees who make up more than 60% of the workforce. In the Washington Post Live broadcast, Hilton CEO Nassetta said it would take years to return to pre-pandemic performance and new approaches were needed. “To get back to levels we saw in 2019, I think it takes three or four years,” Nassetta said. Hilton, which reopened all its hotels in China with a 9% drop in occupancy and has a 20% occupancy rate in the US, is expected to increase during the Memorial Day holiday in the US at the end of May. But Nassetta highlighted that it is still too early to say there is momentum in an overall hotel industry recovery.

Nassetta said the global portfolio was temporarily shut down because of the low occupancy rate, and hotel owners and operators would experience a period of recession that they had to overcome. To overcome this recession and achieve pre-pandemic performance, they started the Hilton CleanStay program in collaboration with Lysol brand owner RB and consulting firm Mayo Clinic. However, the company, which also provided digital check-in and digital room keys in its hotels before the pandemic, is preparing to give its guests a new experience. The Hilton Honors application can be used as a key element of the new post-pandemic era, it can be used in every sense such as hotel entrances and exits, room temperature adjustment, like a television remote as well as calling vehicles.