Macau Expects Fewer Visitors for China's Golden Week

The start of China's Golden Week, actually the Eve of it, resulted in 96,671 visitor arrivals on Monday. The Macao Government Tourism Office is predicting there will be 100,000 arrivals per day to Macau between October 1 and 7. Last year over eight days, arrivals totaled 931,000 so it really is not clear why the MGTO is thinking this year is going to have 16,000 less visitors each day.

Accor's Mercure Hotels celebrated an achievement with the inauguration of its 1,000th hotel. Following its 50th anniversary in 2023, the brand enjoys unprecedented popularity among hotel owners, demonstrating strong growth momentum across the globe. The milestone of 1,000 hotels was reached in 2024, marked by several notable openings, including Mercure London Earls Court, UK; Mercure Chandigarh Tribune Chowk, India; Mercure Fukuoka Munakata Resort & Spa, Japan; Mercure Marival Emotions Resort, Mexico; Mercure Nantong Renmin Road, China; and Mercure Dubai Deira, UAE. This year alone, nearly 30 Mercure hotels have opened in Greater China, expanding the brand's presence to over 180 establishments in the region. Additionally, Mercure has doubled its footprint in Japan, recently launching 11 hotels nationwide. With the largest development pipeline within Accor's portfolio, Mercure is poised for continued growth, with over 200 more hotels slated to open by 2028. Additional recent additions to the Mercure portfolio includes: Mercure Bangkok Surawong, opened May 2024 with 219 rooms. Mercure ICON Singapore City Center opened in April 2024 with 989 rooms. Mercure Tirana opened in March 2024 with 64 guestrooms, marking Mercure's first venture in Albania. Additional Japan openings included Mercure Miyagi Zao Resort & Spa; Mercure Urabandai Resort & Spa; and Mercure Kyoto Miyazu Resort & Spa.

Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary Haevich Hotel & Resort will take charge of the concierge service of Grand Seoul, a prime office building in Jongno, Seoul, starting in December. There appears to be few places to build a five-star hotel in Seoul so Haevich Hotel & Resort will give office building and apartment dwellers a five-star service which includes food and beverage lounges, conference rooms, fitness centers exclusively for tenants, such as the hotel's VIP lounge.

Indian Hotels Company Ltd announced the opening of Ginger Delhi, Chanakyapuri. The opening marks the 70th Ginger operating hotel. The 57 key Ginger Delhi, Chanakyapuri is set in the heart of Delhi's most elite diplomatic enclave. The hotel includes Qmin, the Ginger brand's signature all-day dining restaurant. Other amenities include gym and meeting facilities. With the addition of this hotel, IHCL will have 18 hotels in National Capital Region with three under development. IHCL also announced they will introduce two greenfield projects in Tamil Nadu. IHCL will develop the 150 room Vivanta and 200 key Ginger brand hotels on a 3 acre land in Hosur. The Vivanta will have modern décor reflecting the vibrancy of Hosur, offering an all-day dining restaurant, a bar, gym, swimming pool and a banquet space. The Ginger Hotel will be a 200 room facility that will include an all-day dining cum bar, a gym and many other amenities. IHCL has partnered with Chona Megatainment Malls Pvt Ltd for the development of the two projects. With the two new hotels, IHCL will have 22 hotels with six under development in Tamil Nadu.

Pride Hotels Group said they signed the Pride Elite Hotel in Phaltan, Maharashtra, a milestone in the group's strategy to increase its presence in the western region of India. The promoters of Pride Elite Hotel Phaltan are the owners of Jackson Industries. The hotel is set on a six-acre property, offering 71 deluxe rooms and 4 suites. Amenities include a multi-cuisine restaurant, a contemporary bar, and 24-hour in-room dining. There are both indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, a fully equipped gym and a treatment room for relaxation. The industrial kitchen is equipped to handle large-scale events serving between 3,000 to 5,000 meals per day with the venues including a boardroom, banqueting space and scenic outdoor lawns. This is Pride Hotel's third property in Maharashtra.

Accor announced the opening of its fourth Novotel property in Goa, located in the capital of Panaji, just 35 minutes from Dabolim Airport. The Novotel Goa Panjim has 143 guest rooms, over 8,000 square feet of versatile meeting and event spaces, three dining outlets, a luxurious spa and salon, state of the art fitness center, and a swimming pool. The hotel includes a courtyard, bathed in natural light which is said to by the key feature of the lobby, serving as a serene oasis. Accor currently operates 64 properties in India with a strong pipeline of 30 properties currently under development. Hotels from Accor operate under the Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure and ibis brands.

Eco Hotels and Resorts Limited unveiled its 100% carbon-neutral property, EcoExpress, in Nagpur in India. The hotel has 44 rooms and adds to Eco Hotels' push to expand its presence in Maharashtra.

Saj Hotels Limited launched its IPO on September 27. The company is aiming to raise up to 2,762.50 Lakhs by offering 42,50,000 equity shares on the NSE Emerge platform with the funds to be earmarked to support property expansion, working capital and general expenses. Saj Hotels offerings include traditional resort accommodations, villa rentals and restaurant and bar properties. The IPO is being managed by Corpwis Advisors Private Limited and is expected to close today with shares to be listed by October 7th.

Fosun Tourism will be selling four properties in China for CNY393,64 million. The buyer is a state-owned enterprise fully owned by the Taicang Municipal Government, primarily engaged in real estate development and operation. The proceeds will be used to pay down liabilities and to be used for the funding of the Taicang Alps International Resort project. The four properties are in Taicang City, Jiangsu Province.

Personnel Moves

Seibu Prince Hotels & Resorts announced the appointment of Lee Richards as the new Chief Executive Officer of its hospitality arm outside of Japan. Richards takes over from Simon Wan, who is retiring after 17 years leading the company. Richards will spearhead the expansion of Seibu Prince Hotels & Resorts' international portfolio. The company has a goal of having 250 hotels globally by 2035, including 150 properties outside of Japan, with a particular emphasis on upscale to luxury properties. Seibu currently operates over 80 hotels, 31 golf courses and 10 ski resorts across Japan and other international destinations. Richards previously was part of Swiss-Belhotel International and before that, Millennium Hotels & Resorts.