Read the latest news from around the Asia Pacific region.

Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality appointed Bob van den Oord as its new CEO effective Sept. 1, reports HNN’s Bryan Wroten. The current CEO, Brett Butcher, will step down while still retaining responsibilities with Great Eagle Holdings, the parent company of Langham.

"I am delighted and humbled to have been appointed to lead Langham Hospitality Group into a new era of success,” van den Oord said in the release. “We have an attractive brand portfolio of iconic hotels, with strong appeal to guests and partners. Supported by our talented colleagues around the world, we will continue to deliver enhanced guest experiences, drive business performance with exceptional results as we serve our guests every day."

Executives at smaller hotel brands spoke at the International Hospitality Investment Forum about how being regional powerhouses gives them an advantage over bigger companies, reports HNN’s Stephanie Ricca.

Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Bangkok-based Minor Hotels, has said his goal has been not to build the biggest company, but the most profitable one. That goal “is very easy” given Minor’s entrepreneurial culture, he said.

“For us, it’s all about quality of sustainable earnings and making sure our owners and guests are happy,” he said.

During Marriott International’s first-quarter earnings call, Leeny Oberg, Marriott's chief financial officer and executive vice president of development, said the company expects strong year-over-year performance in international markets, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, during the second quarter, reports HNN’s Bryan Wroten.

Marriott President and CEO Tony Capuano said cross-border travel continues to rise globally, but it’s still a few hundred basis points behind 2019 levels.

“Additional upside is expected to come primarily from the Asia-Pacific given international airlift to and from China is still well below pre-pandemic levels,” he said.

The recovery of demand at MGM Resorts International’s properties in Macau had executives optimistic about future performance this year, reports HNN’s Bryan Wroten from the company’s first-quarter earnings call. They also shared the latest updates on the approval process for their integrated resort plans in Osaka, Japan.

“This is one of the final steps to pave us the way for us to begin our development process in Osaka to create what would likely be the first integrated resort in Japan,” MGM Resorts President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said.

Sydney, Australia-based Pro-invest Group will refocus its efforts on managing hotels in Europe, reports HNN’s Terence Baker. The hotel investor and operator looks to invest 500 pounds sterling ($621.3 million) through a joint venture with ICG Real Estate, initially through the United Kingdom.

“The joint venture … focuses on value-add, opportunistic investments into hotel assets in the U.K., a market that is experiencing a period of dislocation and repricing. We are building a diversified, institutional-quality portfolio of assets in London and other core-U.K. locations, with both partners fully committed to these being high-quality hotels,” said Sabine Schaffer, Pro-invest’s managing partner and CEO for Europe

• Australian-based global fund manager Salter Brothers Asset Management acquired the Escarpment Group's portfolio of luxury boutique hotels and estates.
• U.S.-based Blackstone Group acquired the 135-room former Hiyori Hotel Tokyo Ginza East from Japan-based Sun Frontier Fudousan.
• Hong Kong-based Champion Technology Holdings sold 48.45T of the 253-key Metropolitan Yijing Hotel for 45.9 million Hong Kong dollars ($5.8 million).
• GK Fortune One sold the 123-key Red Planet Sapporo Susukino South Hotel to a Singapore-based consortium led by Heeton Holdings for approximately 1.73 billion Japanese yen ($12.5 million).
• The 208-key Innside by Melia Bangkok will open in July 2023.
• Japan-based Hoshino Resorts is acquiring the 166-key B Asakusa in Tokyo for 5.6 billion Japanese yen from Mitsubishi Estate Co.

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