Wyndham Hotel merges its China unit into Asia Pacific to cut expenses
05/07/2020|4:06:20 PM|ChinaTravelNews

Wyndham Hotel Group said in an internal message that it will reorganize its global structure from five regions to three, combining Greater China with Southeast Asia Pacific Rim as Asia Pacific, and combining North America with LATAMC. 

CEO Geoff Ballotti said senior executives including Greater China president Leo Liu will soon leave the company after this reorganization. 

Ballotti mentioned that the reorganization aims to "further streamline overhead expenses" in face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company will also eliminiate some jobs and carry out furloughs to be a leaner organization during the virus outbreak.

As of the end of 2019, the company had 154,600 hotel rooms in the Greater China region, but that only contributed 3% of Wyndham's royalties in the year. 

China represents just 2% of the company's adjusted EBITDA, Ballotti said during Wyndham's fourth-quarter earnings call back in February this year. 

For the first quarter this year, the company's revenues decreased by 12% to USD 410 million. RevPAR declined 23% globally due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19. In the U.S., RevPAR declined 17%, and internationally RevPAR declined 37% primarily due to a 70% decline in China. 

Wyndham now has over 85% of its 1,600 hotels in China reopened for business.