The group said that more than half of its Accor-branded hotels worldwide are currently closed, with this figure likely to rise to two thirds in the coming weeks.

Accor said that the deteriorating situation had led it to take “aggressive, incremental actions”, including a travel ban, hiring freeze, reduced schedules and /or furloughing for 75 per cent of global head office teams for the second quarter of this year, resulting in a reduction in costs of at least €60m for the year

Recurring investment plans have also been reviewed, reducing costs by another €60m, and other costs including sales, marketing and IT have been streamlined.

Board members will forego 20 per cent of their fees, and the group’s chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin will take a 25 per cent pay cut, with the cash equivalent being contributed to the fund.

The group said that its “recent asset-light transformation and cash preservation strategy” meant it had a strong balance sheet, with over €2.5 billion in cash on hand and an undrawn revolving credit facility of €1.2 billion, and it stressed that while it expected “a severe impact” on its 2020 performance, it remained bullish on the long-term perspective of the hospitality industry.

Accor pledged to pay Covid-19 related hospital expenses for all of its 300,000 employees who do not have social security or medical insurance