Hilton Plans More Luxury Rollouts

STR reported China hotel RevPAR for the week ended December 3. RevPAR was down -2.6% on a year-over-year basis while down -40.2% against the same week in 2019. Absolute occupancy for the week was 49.5%, which compares with 47% during the comparable week last year.

More reports are coming out about China’s decision to roll back Covid-Zero rules. People with mild cases will be allowed for the first time to isolate at home, officially announced by the National Health Commission. Public facilities expect for special places such as schools, hospitals and nursing homes, will no longer require visitors to produce a health code to track their virus tests and whether they have been to areas deemed at high risk of infection. While this had been foreshadowed by the “China reopening trade” in tourism and other related stocks, there had been quite a few instances where investors the past couple of years where investors were fooled into thinking the country would be reopening. We call this the first major baby step to reopening.

The latest STR report, commissioned by Arabian Travel Market, conducted at the end of September 2022, suggests the GCC region now has over 170,000 hotel rooms under active development (planning, final planning & under construction). This is equivalent to 40% of the GCC’s existing hotel room inventory, a figure that is almost four times greater than the rest of the world which currently lags behind at an average of 11% under active development compared with existing supply. Between EXPO 2022, the FIFA World Cub and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, the GCC’s hospitality sector development pipeline remains robust in contrast to global hotel development, which STR said is slowing. The STR report estimates 135,560 existing rooms in Saudi Arabia with an active pipeline of 82,639 rooms, with total room inventory projected for 2030 at over 218,000 rooms. For the UAE, STR is tracking more than 202,000 existing rooms currently with an active pipeline of 48,910 rooms, a combined total of almost 251,000 rooms expected by 2030. Ras Al Khaimah is second only to Dubai with 5,076 rooms in its pipeline, almost the same amount as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah combined. In the past, the UAE’s growth in hotel rooms has spurred demand as room supply increased by more than 70,000 rooms between 2010 and 2019. ATM said this surge in expected supply in the region is expected to result in a marked increase in the number of GCC participants at ATM 2023.

Under the new leadership of Josh Fluhr, Senior Vice President and Global Managing Director, Marriott International’s EDITION Hotels is driving global expansion with the portfolio expected to double in size to 30 properties by 2027. With 15 currently open worldwide, EDITION Hotels expects five new properties to launch in 2023, with four in new destinations including Rome, Mexico’s Riviera Maya at Kanai, Singapore, and Jeddah, along with a second Tokyo location in Ginza. Marriott International also announced plans to introduce more than 35 luxury hotels in 2023 to its unrivaled portfolio of luxury brands including The Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, St. Regis, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, EDITION, JW Marriott and Bulgari Hotels & Resorts. Marriott International is poised to further its position as the global leader in luxury hospitality with more than 200 luxury properties in the development pipeline. From Kenya to Singapore and Japan to Mexico, more than 35 new hotels are slated to open next year in sought-after and emerging destinations around the world.

The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort announced the opening of T-Pan a new restaurant on December 7. The addition to an already impressive list of restaurants allows guests to experience the Teppanyaki style of Japanese cuisine. This brings the total number of restaurants at the resort to six.

Hilton announced its luxury brands would continue a year of growth across their global portfolios with 10 openings and a rollout of new signings across their Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and LXR Hotels & Resorts. Hilton will have seen a total of 12 new openings in this division by the end of 2022, including six Conrad properties. The Conrad brand’s growth in the Americas is the second largest regional brand category growth after Asia Pacific, which currently has 25 properties. Other new entry markets across the Hilton Luxury Brands portfolio this year included Shanghai, Sardinia, Washington, DC, Kuwait and Cancun.

Accor plans to add several more properties in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, including new furnished apartments. Accor said they will add more than 520 hotel rooms to its portfolio in Australia with the January opening of Hotel Morris and Manly Pacific MGallery in Sydney and Mercure Hotel Cairns in Queensland, with the Pullman Sydney Penrith slated to open in the fourth quarter. In New Zealand, Accor will add more than 60 apartment-style units in the second quarter with The Sebel Wellington Lower Hutt and add 313 rooms to its Auckland portfolio with the opening of Pullman Auckland Airport in the fourth quarter. Also opening in 2023 will be three new lifestyle hotels from the Ennismore joint venture where Accor is the majority shareholder, including a Jo&Joe and Tribe hotel in Auckland and a Hyde property in Queenstown. The properties will add more than 180 lifestyle units for the company in New Zealand.

Radisson Hotel Group announced its first experiential resort under its recently launched Radisson Individual Retreats brand extension. The Rakkh Resort, a member of Radisson Individual Retreats, is located in Palampur – Himachal Pradesh, set against the backdrop of the Dhauladhar snow-capped ranges. The resort is a 30 minute drive from Dharamshala. The five-acre resort houses rooms and suites, perched on the top of a hill, offering views of the snow-peaked mountains. Activities range from rejuvenating spa treatments, yoga, village walks, weaving and traditional cooking. There is a multi-cuisine restaurant called Dham, an infinity pool, game room, meeting space and a common living room. The hotel is owned by Kaloti Hotels and Resorts Limited.

Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort will unveil South Korea’s first multi-purpose Arena built to enhance production qualities and event viewing experiences beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023, assuming the property opens on their latest target. The 15,000-seat performance hall is expected to be Inspire’s centerpiece entertainment facility.