Read the latest news from around the Asia-Pacific region.
Hotel Brand Leaders Acknowledge There Are Some Factors They Can't Control
There is a long list of things that keep hoteliers up at night, and executives at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia-Pacific Australia New Zealand readily shared them, reports HNN contributor Tamara Thiessen.
Sarah Derry, CEO of premium, midscale and economy brands in the Asia-Pacific region for Accor, said there's only so much that management and staff can control.
“Whether it’s capacity, whether it’s the return of certain markets, whether it is ESG ... the cost of living, cost of operating a business, foreign exchange, those are the things we spend most of our time talking about at the moment,” she said.
Cricket World Cup Drives Unprecedented Bookings for Hotels in India
India will host the Cricket World Cup starting in early October, with almost 50 matches to be played across 10 cities. With more than 750,000 people attending the matches in England and Wales in 2019, hoteliers in India are hoping for similar crowds, writes HNN contributor Chitra Balasubramaniam.
Hosting the World Cup “is a great thing for the nation," said Vishal Kamat, director of Kamat Group of Hotels. "It changes the mood also, and if India wins, nothing like it will have been seen, and the whole period will see euphoria and madness. Bookings have started, queries are coming in, travel agents are blocking the dates."
Chinese Real Estate Developer, Hotel Owner Country Garden Holdings Reports Billions in First-Half Losses
Country Garden Holdings, one of China’s largest real estate developers, reported a loss of 51.5 billion Chinese yuan [$7 billion] in its earnings report for the first half of the year, reports HNN's Terence Baker. Executives are concerned about the company's ability to continue.
Among the company's portfolio is Funyard Hotels & Resorts, which has nearly 70 hotels.
The company is working with stakeholders to extend debt maturity dates.
US Top 25 Markets, China, Canada Lead in Weekly Performance
Outside of the U.S., global hotel performance continues to show positive year-over-year results, STR's Isaac Collazo, Chris Klauda and William Anns write in an analysis on HNN. For the week ending Aug. 19, occupancy dipped 1.2 percentage points to 72.1% week over week; it was up 4.4 percentage points compared to last year. Average daily rate was up 12.8% year over year to $154, and revenue per available room grew 20.2% to $111.
"Overall, the largest occupancy gainers are those in Asia, led by China with an improvement of 13.2 percentage points year over year to 77.4%, its second-highest occupancy since March 2020," according to the article. "Indonesia occupancy was up 6.8 percentage points to 64.3%."
Deals, Developments, People on the Move
- Malaysia-based Plenitude will acquire its second hotel in South Korea, the 174-key Staz Hotel MyeongDong 2, for 114.3 million Malaysian ringgit [$24.4 million].
- Tokyo-based Ichigo will sell five hotels to Ichigo Hotel REIT Investment Corp., which is managed by Ichigo Investment Advisors for a total of 15.1 billion Japanese yen [$102.6 million].
- Councilors in Australia's Gold Coast approved the development of a hotel project valued at 333 million Australian dollars [$213.7 million] at Movie World.
- Bangkok-based S Hotels & Resorts acquired the 91-key Mercure Glasgow City Hotel on Ingram Street for 7.5 million pounds sterling [$9.3 million].
- Through their Singapore-based Invictus Developments company, Indonesia's Karim family plans to convert their recently acquired Bank of China building in Sydney into a luxury hotel with a planned opening in 2025.
- City Developments acquired the 256-key Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi for 8.5 billion Japanese yen through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary M&C Sakura TMK.
- Australian property developer ICD Property has partnered with SH Hotels & Resorts to develop a 248-key Treehouse Hotel in Adelaide's Market Square for 400 million Australian dollars.
- Malaysia-based YTL Hospitality REIT will acquire the 184-key Hotel Stripes Kuala Lumpur, Autograph Collection, for 138 million Malaysian ringgit.
- Hotel brand Hop Inn plans to expand its portfolio across the Asia-Pacific region through a 10 billion Thai baht [$283.4 million] plan to add 100 hotels in Thailand, 15 hotels in the Philippines and 35 hotels in other APAC countries.
- Accor and Worldwide Hotels Group will rebrand the former Parkroyal on Kitchener Road in Singapore as the Novotel Singapore on Kitchener, effective Nov. 1, 2023.