Hotel giant Accor has seen total revenue fall 17 per cent to €768 million during the first quarter of 2020 as the Covid-19 outbreak begins to show up in financial reports.

RevPAR at the company fell by 25 per cent over the period, reflecting the sharp deterioration in the environment due to the worldwide spread of coronavirus pandemic.

Average room rates were down by a third in Asia-Pacific, with Europe and North America showing falls in RevPAR of 23.2 and 22.2 per cent respectively.

Sébastien Bazin, chief executive of Accor, said: “The world is facing an unprecedented health crisis that is having massive and unique impacts on the tourism industry.

“Nearly two-thirds of our hotels are currently closed, and most of the others are being used to support healthcare workers and all those on the front lines of the fight against Covid-19.

He added: “Today, our challenge is twofold: manage the emergency and prepare for the rebound.

“The group is in a strong position to address the current situation and we are taking aggressive measures to adapt our organization.

“Accor’s recent transformation has left the group with a robust balance sheet which will enable it to absorb the economic consequences of this crisis in the coming quarters.

“At the same time, we are preparing for the recovery alongside the authorities and professional organisations in the countries in which we operate so that the group will be well positioned to rebound as quickly as possible.”

Even during the downturn, Accor opened 58 hotels in the first quarter, representing 8,000 rooms.

At end-March 2020, the group had a portfolio of 746,903 rooms spread over 5,085 hotels and a pipeline of 208,000 rooms on 1,202 hotels.

As of this week, 62 per cent of the Accor-operated hotels are closed.