In addition, on April 13, 2020, the Company entered into an amendment (the “Amendment”) to its Fifth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, and certain banks, dated as of June 28, 2019 (the “Credit Facility” and, together with the 364-Day Credit Facility, the “Credit Facilities”) that, among other changes, waives the quarterly-tested leverage covenant through and including the first quarter of 2021 (unless earlier terminated by the Company at its discretion). The Amendment increases the interest and fees payable on the Credit Facility for the duration of the period during which the waiver of the leverage covenant remains in effect. It also tightens certain existing covenants and imposes additional covenants for the duration of the waiver period, including tightening the lien covenant and the covenant on dividends, share repurchases, and distributions, imposing new covenants limiting asset sales, investments and discretionary capital expenditures and requiring guarantees from any subsidiary (as provided for therein) that borrows or guarantees certain other debt in the future above a specified threshold. Additionally, a monthly-tested minimum liquidity covenant will apply for the duration of the waiver period. The Credit Facility continues to provide for $4.5 billion of effective aggregate bank commitments, which as previously announced on April 3, 2020, has been fully drawn down.
COVID-19 Impact
COVID-19 and efforts to contain it had a significant impact on the travel industry starting in the first quarter of 2020. While the Company is still finalizing the data, the Company expects to report that worldwide systemwide Revenue per Available Room (“RevPAR”) declined approximately 23 percent in the first quarter of 2020, with RevPAR in North America down roughly 20 percent. All occupancy and RevPAR statistics are comparable, Marriott systemwide, constant-dollar and include hotels that have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19. Unless otherwise stated, all changes under “—Recent Developments” refer to year-over-year changes for the comparable period. While there have been early signs of improving demand trends in Greater China, the negative trends in the rest of the world have not yet stabilized. Currently, roughly 25 percent of the Company’s more than 7,300 hotels are temporarily closed. The Company anticipates further hotel closures and erosion in RevPAR performance and does not expect to see a material improvement until there is a view that the spread ofCOVID-19 has moderated and governments have lifted restrictions. Marriott cannot presently estimate the financial impact of this unprecedented situation, which is highly dependent on the severity and duration of the pandemic, but expects that it will continue to be material to the Company’s results.
Business Performance Update
2020 got off to a solid start, with global RevPAR down 0.3 percent worldwide and up 3.2 percent excluding Asia Pacific for the first two months of the year. As the pandemic accelerated around the world, Marriott saw more significant occupancy and RevPAR declines in March than in February in all regions except Greater China. The Company expects to report that in March RevPAR decreased approximately 60 percent worldwide, reflecting declines of around 57 percent in North America, 74 percent in Asia Pacific (with declines of 83 percent in Greater China and 68 percent in the rest of Asia), 71 percent in Europe, 57 percent in the Caribbean and Latin America, and 56 percent in the Middle East and Africa.
Greater China, whereCOVID-19 first started to have an impact in late January, has experienced steadily improving RevPAR trends through March and into April, with occupancy rising to roughly 20 percent in the first week of April, as quarantine measures and travel restrictions ease and workers return to their jobs. The number of closed hotels in Greater China has declined from over 90 hotels inmid-February to under 20 hotels today. Leisure and regional transient demand are driving the RevPAR improvement. For example, during the recent Qingming holiday weekend on April 4 and 5, more than 20 hotels in leisure destination markets ran occupancy over 60 percent, including eight hotels that were sold out.
In the rest of the world, trends have not yet stabilized. North American occupancy levels are currently around 10 percent, and more than 870 hotels, or 16 percent, are temporarily closed, with more closures expected. Occupancy in Europe is currently under 10 percent, with around 500 hotels, or 79 percent, temporarily closed.