Australia: Quest Apartment Hotels has offered to turn up to 80 of its properties into quarantine or isolation facilities as the government requires them.
The Accommodation Association of Australia made a formal offer to the federal government last week on behalf of Quest.
Quest chairman and founder Paul Constantinou told the Australian Financial Review: “I think there’s an opportunity there and not just for Quest, but other providers too, to support the Australian government in terms of helping people who are having to self-isolate or quarantine. The government is going through a trying time and I think it actually helps the hospitals as it takes a lot of pressure off their beds, for people that are serious, and not just for the coronavirus victims, but hospitals do have to help other people as well.”
“It’s a tough time for the whole tourism industry, and there’s going to be a number of hotels and properties like ours that are going to need additional business because there are not a lot of people travelling,” he added.
The Western Australian Premier, Mark McGowan, warned on Sunday that his state government was looking at acquiring hotels for the purpose of quarantining people.
“In addition to that, we are now actively investigating using Rottnest Island for this purpose,” McGowan said. “The minister responsible for Rottnest is currently working on plans to ensure that we can put in place this measure as soon as we need it. These are extreme steps but these are extreme days and we need to all step up and play our part in one of the greatest crisis facing our state in its history.”
Dean Long, chief executive of the Accommodation Association of Australia, said: “This is not a business as usual request by any stretch of the imagination. I think what it really demonstrates is that those hotels that have a unique product are able to review their business plan, review their product offering and get it to market quickly.”</p
