2 Universal Orlando hotels will shut down

Aug. 21 closings brought on by decline of tourism industry

Two of Universal Orlando’s signature hotels — the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and the Aventura — will close on Aug. 21 amid the tourism struggles brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The moves comes as Loews Hotels said it “decided to consolidate our hotel operations as we manage through current conditions.”

“We will be operating the Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Universal’s Endless Summer Resort – Surfside Inn and Suites and temporarily suspending operations at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and Universal’s Aventura Hotel as of August 21,’’ a statement from Loews said Friday.

“Guests with reservations at Sapphire Falls or Aventura will be accommodated at our other hotels.”

Universal, Disney World and SeaWorld all are operating at greatly reduced capacity because of the pandemic.

Comcast, the parent company of Universal, on July 30 released earnings showing Universal parks’ revenue fell 94% from nearly $1.5 billion in 2019 to $87 million in the second quarter.

The next day, Universal Orlando laid off an undisclosed number of workers. The company had already revealed it was delaying construction of a new theme park called Epic Universe.

“We are prioritizing daily operations and shorter-term projects and continuing our pause on longer-term projects such as Epic Universe as we allow the tourism industry to recover,” a statement from the company said.