[Shariq AkberParticipant]

Vast acceptability of working from home culture will see large square foot of office space being vacant and a reduced yield for the office market. This could be a good opportunity for big players in the hospitality sector to acquire these companies at below par and convert them to profitable serviced holiday units.
Any thoughts?

[Mathieu Bradette, MBA,IMAParticipant]

i think we have to wait for the result of the study on the work from home result before converting unit. I’m really not sure the worker are more efficient. Plus the tourism industry had been one the sector the most damage by Covid. I’m not sure they are on acquisition mode but i think your idea is good for sure more people will work from home as time goes buy.

[Rochelle RamosParticipant]

I definitely see COVID’s impact to office space, but I do not see an opportunity at this time for the hospitality sector to acquire spaces as they are suffering financially as well. I believe we’ll see, just as we have over the years with online shopping impacting typical brick and mortar spaces of years ago, that the need for commercial space will drop, therefore pushing the prices down for that type of real estate. Some large organizations might be able to expand their portfolio of properties though through acquisitions, those that have the financial backing to wait out the time period to see what the result will be after the pandemic.

[Tanaquil ChantrillParticipant]

Very interesting topic and ideas. I live in Calgary and we are in the midst of back-to-school discussions and planning. One of the concerns is class size and not enough space for the kids to practice social distancing in the existing school buildings. We have massive vacancies in our downtown core and am wondering whether some thought to standing up some classrooms in the available commercial office space should be done. Doesn’t help with as an opportunity for businesses to profit, but even some compensation for filling the buildings at this time may be better than nothing!

[Karl Heinz FoertschParticipant]

Might be viable in Asia where the hospitality market and the middle class is still growing. Once Coronovirus is gone people will travel again.
However, whether big chains would really acquire objects in big scale is questionsable. I would rather assume that they would engage a “investment light” model and manage facilities under their own brand.

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