Macau's Golden Week Shatters Expectations with Surging Visitation Numbers

Macau's first six days of Golden Week have resulted in visitation of 769,000 people, or 128,167 per day. That is well above the upwardly revised 100,000 a day projection from the Macao Government Tourism Office. With the eight-day holiday week wrapping up this weekend and visitation typically higher on weekends, there is a good chance the final results will be substantially higher than the MGTO predictions. Local tourism authorities are now suggesting a 150,000 a day average which would get them within 15% of the 2019 Golden Week holiday, although that was seven days.

RKM Enterprises of Delhi in India announced the opening of Ramada by Wyndham Goa, in partnership with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Ramada by Wyndham Goa Arpora, located in the prime area of Arpora – North Goa, has 65 rooms, a lobby lounge, all day restaurant and bar, a wellness area, outdoor swimming pool as well as three event spaces. The hotel is said to offer guests easy access to the Baga and Calangute beaches as well as several transport links like the Vasco railways stations and international airports – Mopa and Dabolim.

Radisson Hotels Group said they plan to introduce their top luxury Radisson Collection into the India market. The first Radisson Collection hotel in India is expected to be operational this year with the official announcement expected soon. The info they gave is the hotel is newly built with a fairly large inventory, giving RHG the opportunity to serve the high-end market. Their website has the hotel listed as ‘in development’ in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. RHG said they are also focusing heavily on expanding their footprint of their lifestyle brand, Radisson RED in India. There is currently one Radisson RED hotel operational in Mohali but RHG hopes to have another three added by the end of the current financial year. They believe India remains an underserved market and feels it could easily absorb another 1.5 million hotel rooms.

Choice Hotels Asia Pacific announced their newest additions to its flagship Comfort brand. They announced the Comfort Inn Clubarham and Comfort Suites Clubarham Golf Resort. The properties are located in the town of Barham on the banks of the Murray River in New South Wales in Australia. The two properties mark the first time Choice Hotels Asia-Pac as franchisor is working with hotel management company Gatehouse Hospitality who will manage the two hotels on behalf of the owners. The hotels are owned by Barham and District Services Memorial Club, known as cluBarham. The Comfort Inn Clubarham is formerly two properties known as Clubarham Motel and Clubarham River Motel and totals 54 rooms, located within walking distance of the town’s shops, restaurants, and other attractions. Guests can enjoy swimming pools and barbecue areas as well as access to cluBarham’s two on-site restaurants, gym, lawn bowls, and daily entertainment. Two kilometers from the town center is Comfort Suites Clubarham Golf Resort, formerly known as cluBarham Golf and Sports. The property has an 18-hole championship golf course and 14 grass tennis courts. Accommodations include 11 new two and three-bedroom apartments, cabins, and 18 ensuite and powered caravan/RV sites.

The Lockleys Hotel in Fulham, South Australia has major expansion plans in the pipeline, including adding a four-story motel with more than 80 rooms and a shop to the existing hotel. The development application has been lodged with PlanSA, submitted by MasterPlan SA on behalf of Lockleys Hotel. Plans include a motel to be built with three entire floors dedicated to tourist accommodation, housing a total of 85 rooms, also including a ground-floor shop. The land use of the development is tourist accommodation in the form of a motel to be run in conjunction with the existing accommodation options available at the adjacent Lockleys Hotel. The development provides for the expansion of the existing land use, which includes 12 tourist accommodation rooms.

Short-term rental data specialist Key Data has become the exclusive data partner of the Australian association for STR property managers. Key Data will provide the Australian Short Term Rental Accommodation Association with industry and market data to be used for education and for informing the government, media, short-term rental industry, and its members on the key insights and trends within the Short Term Rental industry.

Agriculture firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai, once a major property developer in Vietnam, wants to sell its last hotel in the central highlands to pay off debt. HAGL has approved a plan to sell the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Hotel in Pleiku Province to redeem bonds from state-owned lender BIDV. The company owned BIDV US$216.87 million at the end of June. The hotel began operations in 2005 with 117 hotel rooms. The company used to have four hotels and resorts in Pleiku, Quy Nhon, Da Lat, and Da Nang. In recent years they have been transitioning to agriculture with a focus on banana farming.

Indian hotel chain Sarovar Hotels and Resorts will start operating the Maiyan Luxury Resort in Nanyuki from next month in its first franchise deal that is set to see it expand its footprint in the Mount Kenya region. Sarovar inked a franchise agreement with the resort to begin operating it as of November 1st for a period of seven years. The Laikipia County hotel will be renamed Sarovar Maiyan Nanyuki, making it the ninth property under the Sarovar Hotels and Resorts brand. The hotel includes 18 duplex pool villas, 54 rooms equipped with modern amenities and a 20-meter heated swimming pool, an equestrian center for horseback riding, and a mini-golf course.

Personnel Move

Konstantinos Michail has been appointed as the Chief Commercial Officer for Millennium Hotels and Resorts MEA. Michail will spearhead the brand’s commercial growth across the Middle East & Africa region. Prior to joining Millennium Hotels and Resorts MEA, Michail held senior positions with other organizations including the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Meydan Group, Meraas Holding, Majid Al Futtaim Properties, and Samsung, Royal Numico.