More than 70% of suppliers owed money from hotels

More than 70% of hotel suppliers are owed money from hotel companies that have not yet paid for services rendered, according to the results of the first-ever Hotelier Middle East Supplier Survey.

Out of a sample of 34, 70.4% of respondents said they were owed money from hotels.

For 22.9% of respondents, outstanding debts owed to their company was the biggest challenge facing their business as a result of the economic downturn.

The fees varied dramatically but for 8.8% of respondents, payments owed exceeded US $1 million.

More than a third (35.2%) of companies said they were owed in excess of $100,000.

Overall, almost 80% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that “it is taking longer than ever to receive payment from hotels for suppliers services”.

However, the majority of the suppliers questioned do expect to receive payment.

Three quarters (75.8%) said they believed they would “definitely” get the payment or that they were “very confident” of receiving payment.

Of the remainder, 15.2% said they thought they “might receive payment”, 3% said they were “not very confident of receiving payment”, and 6.1% said they “do not expect to receive payment”.

If they do not receive outstanding payments, 13.9% of 36 respondents said that they faced the risk of having to close their company.