STR reported China hotel data for the week ended March 9th. Hotel RevPAR in China for the week was down -5.5% year over year. The week was up against a tough comp of +85% year over year comp result in 2023. The only calendar issue was the timing of the International Women’s Day Holiday, which is a half-day holiday in China for female employees. This year’s holiday was on a Friday versus last year’s on a Wednesday.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp said they believe the Philippines can overtake Singapore as soon as next year as Asia’s second-largest gambling destination after Macau. They see new integrated resorts boosting visitation enough to offset the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals. Bloomberry Resorts’ new IR will open later this year and there are up to eight more casino projects planned. While this is a very bold statement made by PAGCOR, it should be taken with the knowledge that PAGCOR is planning to sell their state-run casinos in the next couple of years so that they become solely regulators instead of regulators who are also competitors to those they regulate. PAGCOR’s CEO, Alejandro Tengco, said Singapore is going to plateau if they don’t expand and the Philippines could surprise and surpass them next year. PAGCOR expects gross gaming revenue in the Philippines to rise to US$6.1 billion this year while Singapore GGR will be around $6 billion. Of course, Singapore is reaching that number with only two IRs and the Philippines has many IRs and sole casinos but who’s counting. The Philippines is targeting 7.7 million foreign tourists this year, up from 5.45 million in 2023 and is counting on the casino resorts to attract these people. Philippines casinos are making up for the lack of Chinese visitation with locals and those from South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.
The Ascott Limited, Australia’s Quest Woolooware Bay is part of Novm’s billion-dollar Woolooware Bay Town Centre in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. Ascott Australia has strategically invested in the 71 key greenfield property that capitalizes on the amenity rich precinct which includes a shopping center, waterfront parklands, shared pedestrian/cycle path, outdoor fitness zones and children’s playground, all near Wanda Beach. The property features a Garden terrace overlooking Woolooware Bay and every room has a balcony with views of the ocean, surrounding golf courses and PointsBet Stadium. The Quest property offers a mix of studio, one, two and three bedroom spacious serviced apartments plus accessible rooms.
BWH Hotels announced the signing of three new SureStay properties in Australasia. Situated within BWH’s value and extended stay segments, the brand will introduce two economy SureStay Hotels and the first in the market, extended stay brand, SureStay Studio by Best Western to the portfolio. Renovations have begun on two of the conversion properties in Sydney located in the CBD and St. Leonards, with both due for completion later this year. The third property, located in Brisbane’s south in Mount Gravatt, will be the inaugural SureStay Studio by Best Western, converted from its existing residential apartments into two bedroom accommodations. The conversion developments will bring the number of Sydney properties to eight with Brisbane rounding out to five BWH branded assets.
Accor’s ibis brand had a soft opening of its first hotel in the Philippines in Araneta City, Quezon City. The ibis Styles is a 15 story hotel that cost P2 billion to develop. The hotel will have 286 rooms when fully completed by the second half of 2024. It is expected to be half completed by May. Only its first five floors and its Le Bistro French restaurant are currently open. The front desk and Le Bistro are accessible via Gateway Mall 2’s fourth and fifth floors respectively, on the mall’s north side.
Hyatt Hotels said they plan to expand their footprint in India by opening seven new hotels and adding 1,115 keys across leisure and city destinations in 2024. Hyatt currently operates 49 hotels in Southwest Asia and expects to expand to over 55 hotels in 2024, including one new property in Bangladesh. Last month Hyatt debuted their JdV by Hyatt brand in India, their ninth brand in the country. Going forward they will be opening the Hyatt Regency Kasauli and Hyatt Regency Ghaziabad while the Hyatt Place brand is expected to enter three new locations – Aurangabad, Haridwar and Dhaka. Hyatt Centric will expand its portfolio with expected openings in Hebbal, Bengaluru and Ballygunge, and Kolkata. Hyatt plans to introduce its Unbound Collection in India in 2025 with the Noor-Us-Sabah palace in Bhopal undergoing extensive refurbishment before the 60 room heritage hotel opens to the public.
The Palomar by Crossway, managed by Crossway Hotels and Resorts, has opened on East Coast Road, Chennai, in India. The boutique hotel was developed by Chennai-based Librans group. The hotel features 23 well-designed rooms, a global cuisine restaurant, a pub and other attractions. The hotel will host a rooftop restaurant with views of the beach and Buckingham Canal along with the skyline of OMR. Other amenities will include private meeting spaces, a meeting room lounge, a swimming pool and lawns.
Spree Hospitality, a subsidiary of EaseMyTrip, announced the signing of its latest property – Zip by Spree Hotels, nestled in Gurugram, Haryana, India. The Zip by Spree Hotels Gurugram will have 114 suites, designed for luxury and comfort. Besides the spacious suite rooms, the hotel will have an attractive infinity pool, a versatile banquet hall named Celebrate, a bar named Elevate, a restaurant named Feast, a gym named Energize, and a rejuvenating spa.
The disaster called the 13 Hotel in Macau is going to attempt to be sold. An auction will take place until April 5th with the owner asking for US$307 million for the closed property. Macau local media outlet TDM-Radio Macau said 20 companies have already expressed interest in learning about the details of the deal. The property has been closed since February 2020. JLL has been hired to try to sell the property. It had been up for sale before without any success. The 13 Hotel Macau has 22 floors, and 196 luxury rooms and is located in Coloane, near the Cotai Strip. Macau’s Court of First Instance officially declared bankrupt the company behind the hotel, South Shore Holdings, in February 2023.
