HotelNewsNow.com each week features a news roundup from a different region of the world. Today’s review covers Asia/Pacific.
Asia/Pac supply outlook
The Asia/Pacific hotel development pipeline comprises 1,373 hotels totaling 327,630 rooms, according to the October 2011 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report.
Among the region’s markets, New Delhi ended the month with the largest expected growth (+46.3%) if all 10,477 rooms in the total active pipeline open. Other markets to report a significant growth in existing supply: Manila, Philippines (+30.0% with 5,523 rooms); Mumbai, India (+22.5% with 4,185 rooms); Bali, Indonesia (+19.3% with 6,257 rooms); and Jakarta, Indonesia (+17.3% with 4,541 rooms).
Starwood hits 200th hotel milestone in Asia/Pac
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced it has surpassed the 200th hotel milestone with a flurry of recent openings in China, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Starwood continues to widen its lead as the largest operator of four- and five-star hotels in Asia/Pacific with plans to reach more than 320 hotels by 2014.
“The opening of our 200th hotel in Asia Pacific underscores the vitality of this market and its importance to our future growth,” Frits van Paasschen, Starwood’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Demand for our high-caliber brands continues to soar across Asia’s many dynamic markets, driven by phenomenal economic growth and significant increases in outbound travel, particularly from China and India.”
China hotel companies accelerate growth
Rapid growth for China’s domestic hotel chains continued during the third quarter and is expected to accelerate into 2012, but shifts in business models have brands approaching growth differently, HotelNewsNow.com’s Jason Q. Freed and Patrick Mayock report in a wrap-up of earnings from China-based companies.
Summing up some of the highlights from the reports:
• 7 Days Group Holdings Limited opened a record 116 hotels during the third quarter.
• Net revenues increased by 23.8% year-over-year during the quarter for China Lodging Group.
• Home Inns & Hotel Management is focusing on increasing performance at the recently acquired Motel 168.
Read “China’s domestic chains accelerate growth.”
AsiaPacific Ad Will Appear Here
Demand weakening in China
The recently booming Chinese hotel market might be showing weakening demand as the market tries to accommodate new supply, according to a Bloomberg report.
China’s occupancy rate was 61% during the first nine months of this year, flat year-over-year and the lowest in Asia after India among 15 countries, according to data from STR Global, a sister company of HotelNewsNow.com. In Shanghai, only about half of hotel rooms were filled, compared with more than 80% for Singapore and Hong Kong.
“Hotels in some markets of China are clearly oversupplied in the next three to five years, and they won’t be generating good returns,” said Nigel Summers, Hong Kong-based director at Horwath Asia Pacific. “China has had a very strong demand. The question is whether the increase in demand is going to be big enough to handle all the new hotels.”
10 Sheraton Resorts to open in Asia/Pac by 2012
Starwood announced its Sheraton brand will open 10 new resort properties by the end of 2012. Nine of the new resorts will open in China, and the other will open in Indonesia. With these new additions, Sheraton will boast the largest portfolio of resorts under one brand in the four- and five-star category.
New Sheraton properties in Asia/Pac opening before the end of 2012:
• Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort
• Sheraton Yantai Golden Beach Resort
• Sheraton Guangzhou Huadu Resort
• Sheraton Bailuhu Resort, Huizhou
• Sheraton Qingyuan Lion Lake Resort
• Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort
• Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort
• Sheraton Changbaishan Resort
• Sheraton Macao Hotel
• Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort
Bangkok flooding causes decline in performance
During the first few weeks of historic flooding across Thailand, Bangkok’s hotel industry didn’t experience major declines in terms of occupancy and rate, according to daily performance data from STR Global. In fact, until the beginning of the week when the flood waters reached the capital, daily occupancy levels remained around the 65% mark. Average room rate has held fairly close to the same level as the previous year with a month-to-27 October average daily rate of THB2,980 (US$95.45), compared to THB2,977 (US$95.36) month-to-date in 2010.
The unrelenting waters have since negatively impacted seven of 50 Bangkok districts. The capital’s second airport has closed, and several governments have warned its citizens against all but essential travel to the country. Occupancy levels started to decline from Sunday, 23 October onwards and were followed soon after by a decline in ADR.
Key openings, transactions
• Interstate Hotels & Resorts announced that JHM Interstate Hotels India, a 50/50 joint venture management company between Interstate and JHM Hotels, has signed a contract to manage the Ramada Hotel in Alleppey, Kerala, India. The 120-room hotel is anticipated to open in 2012.
• Marriott International signed a deal for its 100th hotel in China: the 345-room JW Marriott Hotel Shenyang.
• Accor opened two hotels in China: The 243-room Novotel Guiyang Downtown and the 333-room Grand Mercure Jinan Sunshine.
• The 254-room Le Meridien Coimbatore in India opened in November. It is the 100th Le Meridien hotel globally for the brand.
• The 77-room Le Meridien Koh Samui Resort & Spa, the brand's seventh hotel in Thailand, opened in November.
• Starwood announced plans for three new Westin hotels in China by April 2012: the 312-room Westin Ningbo, the 326-room Westin Xian and the 304-room Westin Xiamen.
• The 123-room Le Meridien Bali is slated to open in mid-2012. The property was formerly known as Ristia Resort, and will be rebranded to a Le Meridien resort under Starwood.
• Starwood announced plans to open the W Jakarta in 2015. The 300-room hotel marks the debut of W Hotels Worldwide in Jakarta and the brand’s second property in Indonesia.
• Accor opened the 317-room Pullman Jakarta Central Park, its second Pullman hotel in Indonesia in 2011.
• Sofitel announced plans to open the 325-room Sofitel Foshan in China in 2014.
• Starwood announced the opening of the 274-room St. Regis Tianjin in China. The property was designed by architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Compiled by Stephanie Wharton.