The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit since February 2020
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Greater Manchester's hospitality industry was just one of the many sectors to have felt the full force of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last year or so.
With entire venues forced to close for the majority of the pandemic, staff unsure of their futures as they were placed on furlough and the collapse of previously always reliable revenue streams, most hotels across the city battened down the hatches and hoped for the best.
With Manchester experiencing some of the highest number of days under the toughest lockdown restrictions, hotel managers scrambled to ensure their charges would still be around when the worst of the pandemic had finally passed.
Here, BusinessLive speaks exclusively to those at the heart of the industry who reveal how they coped with being confronted by the unique challenges of the pandemic, what impact the Government's roadmap has had, and predict where the sector will be in 12 months time.
In the months and years leading up to the start of the pandemic, Greater Manchester's hotel industry was booming.
Thousands of hotel rooms were being planned and constructed with more and more tourists visiting the area every year.
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But with the impact of Covid-19 being felt, tourism started to dry up, with corporate events and travel flatlining.
For the industry, it was an extremely difficult time.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has been absolutely devastating for the hotel industry in Greater Manchester", said Nick Brooks-Sykes, director of tourism at Marketing Manchester.
"The visitor economy is worth £9bn to the city region and we estimate that about 70% of that was lost."
Kumar Mishra general manager at The Edwardian, added: "We had hoped that 2020 would be one of the best financial years for us as we had completed a multi-million-pound refurbishment programme in the summer of 2019.
"However it was disheartening to see from around February that business confidence had disappeared and we were forced to close because of the lockdown restrictions.
"We decided not to reopen until September and from that point things were ok until new restrictions came into force in the city in November.
"2020 was a year we would like to forget to be honest."
However, every hotel in Manchester was forced to close completely.
Johan Scheepers, general manager of the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, said: "The pandemic has been hard and we were helped by the furlough scheme and an airline basing their crew here, which helped keep the lights on for us really."
While aparthotels brand Roomzzz was allowed to remain open and offered thousands of rooms to NHS workers.
The company's chief operating officer Robert Alley said: "We were able to offer something that a lot of hotels were not as we could give our rooms out to NHS workers who needed to isolate from their families at the start of the pandemic.
"We gave away thousands of rooms to NHS workers over that period which allowed us to stay open and occupancy levels to remain at a high level.
“"All other types of business just fell away though and when we were allowed to reopen again to the public last summer, albeit only for a short time in Manchester, it was clear to see that people just wanted to get out into the world again."
The Lowry Hotel was also allowed to remain open , welcoming the likes of film crews and sports teams.
Last summer hotels across the city were allowed to reopen to the general public for what turned out to be a brief window before Manchester was plunged yet again into the highest level of lockdown at the time.
Despite the short time frame, hotel leaders have said that period was an important factor in keeping many hotels in business.
But an even bigger impact was the further restrictions being lifted on April 12 this year.
Mr Scheepers added: "It has been really positive since the restrictions were lifted and we have seen very strong bookings.
"The bank holiday was very popular and drove a lot of the bookings for us and we’ve also had a small wedding.
"Saturdays have been performing well and the occupancy rates have been improving all the time."
Mr Mishra said: "Since reopening our mid-week revenue, Monday to Thursday, is about 40% of what it was before the pandemic so we are still recovering.
"Weekend bookings are performing very well but it’s mid-week which is still struggling to improve.
"We need to see a return of tourists before our revenue will rise further."
To help hotels to bounce back, Marketing Manchester launched a campaign offering a free night's stay in a bid to boost the city region's tourism, hospitality, leisure and culture sectors.
The 'Have a Night on Us' drive is being delivered in partnership with the Manchester Hoteliers Association and is allowing visitors to book two nights and stay a third night for free, with the aim of helping people to extend their stay in Greater Manchester, have more time to explore many of the region’s new and updated attractions and experiences, and to increase overall spend within the tourism economy.
Mr Scheepers said: "The Marketing Manchester scheme has been very positive for us and we have seen a boost as a result of taking part.
"Anything promoting Manchester has to be a good thing, especially for the city centre.
"There seemed to be more of a focus on seaside destinations last year so I’m glad that city centres are being focused on more."
A total of 13 hotels are taking part in the campaign including The Edwardian, Kimpton Clock Tower, The Lowry Hotel, Hotel Brooklyn, Stock Exchange Hotel, The Ainscow Hotel, Holiday Inn Manchester city centre, and both of Manchester’s Roomzzz properties.
Now with the heaviest restrictions lifted, eyes have turned to the future and where the industry will be in the coming years.
More than 8,300 new rooms are set to be launched in Greater Manchester by 2026 through new openings and property extensions while over 4,150 are earmarked for the city itself.
Mr Brooks-Skyes said: "The sector is incredibly resilient and we are starting to see it bounce back now that restrictions are being lifted.
"I really believe that we are on the cusp of a new dawn and Greater Manchester is being promoted to the Premier League of tourism destinations in the UK.
"We have the like of the new Co-op Live arena being built, RHS Bridgewater has just opened and Factory will really show that Manchester is a hotbed of culture.
"The number of bedrooms in Greater Manchester is going to rise by about 30% over the next few years and that just shows you that people think the only way is up for the city region.
"Our challenge now is to tackle some of those old stereotypes that there is nothing in Manchester worth coming for.
"We also want to see a return of international long haul visitors as they spend the most and stay the longest.
"Their return will have a huge impact on the industry in Greater Manchester."
Mr Alley pointed to 2023 as the year the industry will start to take off again.
"I think next year will be a good year but it will be 2023 which is going to be crazy.
"It will take a long time to organise large events and we’re not going to see capacity crowds at the likes of Old Trafford for quite a while."