Australia Sees Corporate Hotel Demand Strengthening 

CoStar and STR analysis show Australia’s recent hotel performance represents normalization as leisure demand has peaked and corporate business is now strengthening. They will be presenting this at the NoVacancy Hotel + Accommodation Industry Expo. Through the first seven months of the year, Australia’s hotel occupancy was 68.2%, up 9.8% from last year but still down -6 points from 2019. ADR of A$234.46 was 7.4% higher than last year and 22.4% better than 2019, resulting in ADR that was 20% higher than 2019. Brisbane has recently shown the highest occupancy index peaks, while Perth has remained above 2019 levels for much of the year. Sydney trended below 2019 for much of this year but eclipsed that threshold for two straight weeks in late July. Melbourne, with much new supply, has remained below 2019 all year. Midweek (Mon-Wed) occupancy has consistently grown in recent months, shoulder days (Sun-Thurs) have fluctuated, and weekends have decreased. Against 2019, weekdays reached 98% of the pre-pandemic comparable in late July.

Choice Hotels Asia Pacific gave us a glimpse into the Australasia market, saying Australian RevPAR was up 6% in 2Q2023 year over year with ADR up 8%, while New Zealand Q2 RevPAR was up 15% with ADR up 7%. Choice Hotel APAC signed five new deals in the quarter, adding to its portfolio of more than 350 open or under-development hotels, including two new Ascend Hotel Collection locations that joined the group in recent months. They welcomed their fifteenth Ascend property in Australia with the launch of First Light Mooloolaba. In addition, Choice Hotels’ first Ascend property in Asia was opened in Takayama City in the Japanese Alps.

Macau’s hotel occupancy rate reached 89% in July, with five-star hotels achieving a rate of 92.1%, representing a year-on-year increase of 71.1 percentage points. The number of hotel establishments providing accommodation services to the public totaled 132 in July, up 17 year-on-year, with the total number of available rooms up by 37.3% to 43,000 rooms. The average occupancy rate of rooms rose by 50.2 percentage points to 89%, with the occupancy rate of 2-star hotels at 93.1% and 5-star hotels at 92.1%. For the first seven months of 2023, the average occupancy rate of hotels was 79.56%, with the number of guests at 7.32 million.

IHG’s Hotel Indigo brand announced the opening of its fourth property in Japan in the capital city of Tokyo. Together with Pan Pacific International Holdings Corporation, the Hotel Indigo Tokyo Shibuya has opened its doors in one of Tokyo’s most well-known areas near the Shibuya Crossing. The 272-room hotel features a unique selection of vinyl records in each guestroom, paying homage to Shibuya’s music culture. Gallery 11 is their newly opened restaurant, and guests can also drop into Shibrewya, the hotel’s neighborhood café.

DoubleDragon Corp said it started the construction of the first overseas hotels in Hokkaido, Japan. DoubleDragon held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 482-room Hotel101-Niseko property on August 26th. The hotel will be located on a 1.17-hectare property in Hokkaido Prefecture and will have 482 signature HappyRooms.

The Laguna Resort & Spa in Nusa Dua, Bali, a property under the Luxury Collection brand, announced the conclusion of its renovation journey. The renovations included revitalized rooms, enhanced dining establishments, and the latest addition – the Arwana restaurant. This year-long revamp is the Laguna Resort & Spa’s first renovation in over three decades.

IOI Properties Group appointed Marriott International to manage its hotel in its Marina View property in Singapore’s Central Business District. The Business Times said they have not disclosed which of Marriott’s brands will be used for the new hotel because discussions have not been finalized. Besides the hotel, IOI Properties is developing residential and retail components on the Marina View site.

The juSTa Rudra Resort & Spa in Kolad, India, will open in September. The homegrown luxury hospitality brand will enter Maharashtra with the property, set across 6 acres amidst greens and small hillocks of the Western Ghats. The resort is three hours by car from both Mumbai and Pune. The 60-key property has three conference halls, six breakaway areas, a board room, an amphitheater, a swimming pool, three lawns, a restaurant, a bar, a fitness center, a spa, and facilities for various indoor and outdoor games.

The Greenwood Hotels and Resorts Group announced it will invest Rs 500 crore to roll out hospitality projects across Northeast India over the next 10 years. The company launched its latest property, The Greenwood Guwahati, in the business segment for Rs 100 crore. The new property has 48 luxury rooms, meeting facilities, a gym, a spa, and a swimming pool. They want to broaden its presence across all eight states of Northeast India with a substantial investment of Rs 500 crore over 10 years. They manage two properties – The Greenwood Resort, Guwahati, and the boutique hotel, The Greenwood Tezpur.

The Roxy Impiana Hotel in Kuching, Malaysia, is expected to be operational before this Christmas. Tecktonic & Sons Holding said the majority of the facilities and amenities at the hotels, including water supply connection, are already up and running. The hospitality property at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce would have 46 rooms with four junior suites and six serviced apartments. It will also feature the city’s first sky bar. The Roxy is in a building that was once the Country View Hotel. The company has also taken over the three-story Singgahsana Lodge near Wayang Street, but the design plans for a new hotel have yet to be finalized.