Macau Reopens to Foreign Citizens

The Macau Statistics and Census Service said six hotels in Macau stopped providing accommodation services to the public in July, during the Covid outbreak. That brought the region to 115 hotels and guesthouses, and the biggest drop since the Statistics and Census Service began collecting such data in January 2019. The statement did not clarify if the six establishments actually closed their doors or if they were designated for medical observation and self-management of health and excluded from the compilation of results. The average hotel occupancy rate in July was only 38.1%, down 25.6 percentage points from July in 2021. That was the fifth consecutive month of declines in year-on-year terms. The number of visitors to Macau fell -98.8% year on year in July.

Tomorrow is the first day that foreign citizens from 41 countries will be allowed to enter Macau since the start of this crisis. The travelers will still have to undergo seven days of quarantine in a designated hotel followed by another three days of self-health monitoring.

Control of theme park Huis Ten Bosch Park in Japan is being transferred to Hong Kong-based asset management firm PAG. This is the theme part that is supposed to be part of the Nagasaki Integrated Casino Resort that is supposed to be approved soon. PAG has valued the total equity value of the park to be JPY100 billion. Nobody seems to know if this means the IR is going to be shelved or if things will proceed as planned. Casinos Austria submitted their proposal for an IR to Japan’s national government in April.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of its 600th hotel in Greater China with the debut of Kimpton Bamboo Grove Suzhou. IHG said that by the middle of July 2022, their Greater China RevPAR had recovered to over 80% of the same period in 2019 with Western and Southern China exceeding the 2019 number while Eastern and Northern China were restored to 60% and 70%. Of course, that was before the Covid outbreaks the past month or so which have resulted in rolling lockouts, with Southern China getting the worst of it. As of the first half of 2022, there are 12 IHG brands with expansive footprints in more than 200 cities in Greater China. In the first half of 2022, IHG signed 53 hotels with approximately 11,100 rooms in Greater China and expects another 469 in the pipeline.

CEL Australia has listed a Mandurah waterfront hotel for sale as Western Australia reopens to the world post-pandemic. The 4.5-star Sebel Hotel Mandurah has become the area’s preeminent accommodation for corporate and tourist guests to the Peel region since opening in 2009. CBRE has been appointed to market the 84-room asset, with Expressions of Interest closing on the 4^th of October 2022. The Sebel is located 50 minutes south of the city, part of an exclusive strata subdivision comprising studio rooms, one & two bedroom suites and two & three bedroom apartments, most with east-west views over the Indian Ocean or Mandurah Canals and Estuary.

Swiss-Belhotel International launched its second Swiss-Belcourt brand in Makassar, Indonesia, on August 28. The hotel was formerly known as M Boutique hotel and went through a renovation and was reopened as Swiss-Belcourt Makassar. The hotel is located just 10 minutes by car from Losari Beach and 29 minutes from Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Maros, South Sulawesi. The hotel offers 76 rooms including Deluxe to Executive suite. There is a restaurant called Swiss-Bistro, two meeting rooms along with other amenities. The newly rebranded hotel is Swiss-Belhotel International’s third hotel in the city.

Tiong Nam Group announced the launch of 1975 Avenue & Hotel, the first aviation-themed lifestyle hub in the Southern Region of Peninsular Malaysia. The hotel is located in Kempas, occupying over 19,000 square meters of integrated township with retail elements. The hotel has 38 rooms with the property surrounded by a 14.9-acre project incorporating two redesigned Boeing 747s located above a man-made beach with leasing opportunities. Inside the hotel, the all-suite cockpits and cabins make for a timeless aviation staycation escapade.

There will be 20 decommissioned public buses getting a new lease on life as rooms for a new resort to be built in Changi Village in Singapore by 2023. Tentatively called The Bus Resort, the project by travel agency WTS Travel will be located next to the Changi Village Hawker Center and spans some 8,600 square meters, or slightly larger than a football field. Each bus-turned-room will have 28 square meters of floor space and will have features such as bathtubs. There will be a 15 square meter area outside of each room which can be used for barbeques. The groundbreaking for the resort took place on Sunday. This is WTS Travel’s first foray into the resorts sector.

In Shillong, India, the state-owned Crowborough Hotel will open its doors on September 7. The property will be run by Indian Hotels Company under the Vivanta brand. The hotel is located in the heart of the city and will have 100 rooms. Following that will be a hotel from Marriott as Meghalaya’s Chief Minister said the Marriott Group has invested in the state and will open a hotel soon. There are said to be 1,500 – 2,000 rooms in the pipeline across the state under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation program.

Troubled Philippines entrepreneur Dennis Uy confirmed that he is open to selling off some assets of his Udenna Corp if they are attractive to outsiders and it makes sense from his side. Uy admitted they should have raised equity but instead chose debt, thinking it would be cheaper.

Delta Hotels by Marriott, Green Community Dubai, the second Delta Hotel in the UAE, is expected to open in the fourth quarter of this year. This follows a rebrand of the existing property. The hotel will feature 248 rooms across five room types including Executive Suites and Junior Suites, 287 square feet of meeting and event spaces, including The Hall, purposed for larger business meetings and corporate events. Leisure facilities are expected to include an outdoor swimming pool and pool bar, a new spa and a state of the art fitness center. The hotel will feature distinctive culinary experiences, including Masian Restaurant and the connecting Hub Delta Bar. The hotel is located close to Jebal Ali Port, Al Maktoun International Airportand within Dubai Investment Park.