Thai Hotels Seek Relief After German Tour Company Collapse

STR reported China hotel data for the week ended August 3rd. Hotel RevPAR in China for the week was down -11.1% year over year. Last week’s RevPAR was up against a +21.6% year over year comp result in 2023. For the week, China hotel occupancy was down -1.2% while ADR was down -10%, both on a year over year basis.

Hilton said they added 36 hotels to their Asia Pacific estate in 2Q24 to reach 837 trading hotels in the region. They surpassed 100 DoubleTree by Hilton properties with new openings in Osaka, Jakarta and Beijing while also celebrating over 100 Hilton Garden Inn properties. They launched the new Hilton Garden Inn – Gen A regional prototype for Greater China during the quarter. Hilton’s pipeline of properties under development in the APAC region is at a new record of 1,021.

Lemon Tree Hotels Limited announced the opening of Lemon Tree Resort, Somnath, operated under the franchise division of Lemon Tree Hotels. Lemon Tree, Somnath is situated in Veraval in India, just five minutes by foot from the Veraval beach, in the western state of Gujarat. The resort features 52 rooms and suites, the Citrus Café multi-cuisine coffee shop and an expansive outdoor space. Other amenities include a fitness center and swimming pool.

Assam Tourism Development Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited and the Indian Hotels Company Limited. As part of the MoU, a Taj Resort and Spa will be opened with an investment of Rs 120 crore. Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited and IHCL will establish hotel and hospitality infrastructure with modern facilities at Kaziranga. Also announced at the press conference was that IHCL will be upgrading the Vivanta to the Taj Hotel in Guwahati. IHCL also said that somewhere between Guwahati and Jagiroad, the Tata Group is planning to set up a Taj Gateway Hotel.

Le Meridien New Delhi has appointed Secret Ingredient, a hospitality and restaurant consulting group, to help them re-conceptualize its top-floor dining room, Le Belvedere, to enhance its culinary offerings. Le Belvedere is the rooftop hotel dining room on the 20th floor with views of the capital city. As part of the revamping of the dining room, the Secret Ingredient team will provide a wide range of food and beverage solutions as well as management of the technical aspects.

Hotels in Thailand are seeking assistance from the German Embassy in the Kingdom to get money back from the impact of the collapse of German tour company FTI Group. Hotels reported over 111 million baht in losses and they are coordinating with the Tourism and Sports Ministry to try to recoup some of that money. FTI was the third largest tour operator in Europe but they filed for insolvency in June. The Thai Hotels Association and Tourism Authority of Thailand will submit a letter to the Tourism and Sports Ministry to coordinate with the German Embassy in Thailand, hoping to discuss a possible method to claim compensation. The TAT said they believe only 250,000 travelers in Germany who purchased tour packages could expect reimbursement via the German Travel Security Fund. There has been no progress on compensating affected agencies outside Germany. In Thailand, most tourists who booked through FTI finished their trips but hotels were unable to claim the expense from the company. Some Thai hotels were said to have accumulated a loss of 3-4 million baht from this single case. Some tourism officials are suggesting hotels change their ways of dealing with tour operators, reducing the credit amount or credit duration to make sure this does not happen again.

Manuel Villar Jr continues to work on developing a new resort and casino in Las Pinas City in the Philippines. The Inquirer said the first stages of the development will involve a transformation of the current Vista Mall into a casino and hotel, as well as a convention center, with the first phase targeted for development next year. The casino would be an 18,300 square meter venue focused on both casual players and high rollers, leveraged by membership rewards, a weekly and quarterly raffle, live performances and celebrity shows. The retail space will be larger than the casino at 21,000 square meters. Entertainment and wellness venues will span some 5,800 square meters. The massive property being created by Villar Group subsidiary Vertex Entertainment and Resorts Corp will eventually include four hotels offering over 800 rooms, a condotel, MICE center, shops, dining and wellness. First coming online will be the casino and new hotel, offering 70 rooms, as well as the convention center. After that the remaining three hotels, shops and other attractions are expected to be developed.

Early in the week we reported on how the local authorities in Osaka, Japan have asked MGM/Orix to pause work on their planned integrated casino resort while Expo 2025 is going on. That would mean a six month work stoppage. Osaka IR KK, the entity developing the MGM Osaka casino resort, told local authorities that pausing work for six months would lead to a delay in the projected mid-2030 opening of MGM Osaka and extra costs. The extra costs should be covered by the Expo if they want them to stop development for that time but does it really matter if the development is delayed another six months? There were supposed to be three IRs, not just one, and they were all supposed to be open by now under the original plan. The Governor of Osaka has become involved and he said discussions are ongoing to reach some sort of resolution on this matter.