Oberoi Family Fight Hasn't Stopped Hotel Growth

The Mid-Autumn Festival is going on now in China and Hong Kong's hotel and catering industry are expected to struggle during the holidays. South China Morning Post said hotel chains have slashed prices to try to boost occupancy, blaming the strength of the Hong Kong dollar and a shorter holiday period. Last year the holiday was eight days, this time three and last year it bumped right up to the National Day Golden Week. They quoted an official from Miramar Group saying business was slower this year, prompting the chain to slash room rates by 10% to 20%.

The Malaysian Association of Hotels said hotels in most states have benefited from a pick-up in international tourist arrivals. They noted hotels within city centers, especially in Klang Valley, have been seeing good occupancy rates, around the mid-60s range. That is getting closer to the pre-pandemic rates of around 70%. Smaller states still have a ways to go to reach 2019 levels. From July to August, three to five star hotels within the Kuala Lumpur city center have seen their occupancy rates shoot up to more than 80%. Some believe the easing of visa restrictions for travelers from India and China are driving the rebound.

Tourism Malaysia said some 537,000 tourists from India visited Malaysia between January and June this year, up 51.6% from 354,000 in the same period in 2019. As of June, Singapore had been on top for tourist arrivals, followed by Indonesians and Chinese. The total tourism receipts from January to June 2019 was RM41.69 billion but this year's period was RM45.42 billion. New hotels have also popped up including the five star Imperial Lexis and Courtyard by Marriott Kuala Lumpur South. Knight Frank said the remainder of the year is expected to see the completion of four additional hotels with a combined total of 1,138 rooms. Those hotels include Park Hyatt KL, Marriott Executive Apartments, Courtyard by Marriott at Bloomsvale and Holiday Inn KL at Menara Alfa Bangasar. Knight Frank said by 2025 the hotel inventory will expand by another 15% to 38,200 rooms with around 10 hotels boasting 3,727 rooms expected to be completed in 2025.

Hilton issued a statement regarding the Singapore F1 this weekend. They noted bookings across the hotels in the city are rising with almost 4,000 Hilton Honors members already booked for the five days with US, Singapore, China and Japan travelers leading the way. Singaporeans are making up about 12% of bookings during the period.

Centara Hotels & Resorts and Varivana Resort Koh Phangan Company Limited announced the signing of a hotel management agreement for Varivana Resort Koh Phangan. The agreement marks Centara's debut property on the island and highlights the company's ongoing dedication to expansion. Varivana Resort Koh Phangan is a 39-key boutique property, managed by Centara beginning September 16th. The hotel includes a 28-meter rooftop saltwater infinity pool, rejuvenating spa, and restaurant and bar.

Swiss-Belhotel International announced its strategic expansion in the Philippines. They plan to establish more properties in Metro Manila, North Luzon and the Visayas. The Swiss-Belinn Baguio will open soon, owned by the same group behind Swiss-Belhotel Blulane in Binondo. The property will cater to both business and leisure travelers.

Filinvest Land, Inc. is acquiring 100% of condotel operator FORA Services, Inc.FLI's executive committee approved the acquisition of FOSI from subsidiary Filinvest Hotel Corp for P400,000. The acquisition would involve the addition of the first ever Securities and Exchange Commission-registered condotel business model into the FLI portfolio. FOSI is a domestic corporation engaged in operating and managing real estate projects and rendering hospitality-related services, particularly the Quest Hotel Tagaytay Project condotel project in For a Rotunda Tagaytay.

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac and South Australian accommodation management business M&G Hotel Group are celebrating the addition of two new properties, Econo Lodge Port Augusta and Econo Lodge Dockside Glenelg. The new properties bring M&G Group's total number of franchise agreements with Choice to seven.

QT Hotels & Resorts, a division of EVT, has inaugurated QT Singapore, marking the brand's entrance into Southeast Asia with a luxury lifestyle hotel. The hotel is in a beautifully renovated Telegraph heritage building located on Robinson Road.

Quartz Development Group showcased the plans and artist's impressions of the Lake Hawea Hotel & Residences in Lake Hawea, New Zealand. If all approved the Hawea Hotel's existing buildings will no longer fit the purpose and the new hotel will be relocated further up Capell Avenue on a site the includes the existing Hawea Store & Kitchen. They hope to begin construction of the Lake Hawea Hotel & Residences in late 2025.

EIH Limited plans to build two new hotels, one in Pune, India and one in London, England. The hotel chain plans to develop a mixed-use project in Pune comprising a Trident Hotel with around 175 keys at 1.81 lakh square feet and a commercial development with office space and food and beverage-focused retail outlets at 4.08 lakh square feet. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 972 crore with commercial operations expected to being in the first quarter of financial year 2029-2030. EIH will acquire a 51% stake in Muttha Towers II Private Ltd, with owns a parcel of land for 254 crore. The company also approved an investment of 15 million Great Britain Pounds to set up a hotel in the United Kingdom. The Oberoi, London hotel will have approximately 11 suites and 6 rooms and is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of the financial year 2027-2028. All this is going on while a family battle over the company is in full swing. The company is facing a legal challenge from Anastasia Oberoi, daughter of the late P.R.S. Oberoi. A suit was filed by Anastasia and her mother against her step-brother, step-sister and cousin alleging they were obstructing the execution of the will.