Singapore Hotels Hit 80% Occupancy Rates

In Observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States, there will be no Daily Lodging Report – Asia Pacific on Wednesday, November 27 and Thursday, November 28. Regular service will resume on Monday, December 2.

One of the key takeaways from the “Intelligence Watch: Next Generation Trends” session at the Web in Travel Singapore conference was that the Asia Pacific travel market is experiencing an uneven recovery, with India emerging as a key growth driver while China’s outbound travel remains slower than anticipated. India has emerged as a key market with significant growth in both inbound and outbound travel sectors.

The Straits Times reported that Singapore hotels are enjoying over 80% occupancy despite the strong Singapore dollar and higher room prices. They do face these headwinds as well as rising land costs. The limited land space and construction costs will eventually lead to smaller hotel rooms, similar to those already in Hong Kong and Japan. Regular guest rooms at Four Seasons Hotel in Orchard, which opened in 1994, range from 49 square meters to 58 square meters, with suites ranging from 155 sqm to 199 sqm. The Pullman Singapore Orchard, which opened in 2022, has regular rooms between 26 sqm and 38 sqm, while suites range from 48 sqm to 116 sqm. Last week, Accor’s Pullman Hotels and Resortsannounced Transforming Room, a concept hotel room located at Pullman Singapore Orchard. That room has modular interiors and features for guests to customize via an app, such as moving the bed to create space for workouts, dining, or work, and lighting, and room scents adjusted to suit various moods. The smaller rooms are not resulting in lower prices. Bloomberg said the average price of a hotel room in Singapore in September was $316 compared to $235 for the same period in 2019. Luxury hotel rates have surged by 56%, from $486 in 2019 to $757 in 2024. CBRE is expecting the growth to slow over the next four years with a more limited supply of new hotel rooms between 2024 and 2028, most in the upscale segment. They are forecasting a modest compound annual growth rate of 0.6%.

Macau visitor arrivals to Macau rose 13.7% year on year in October to 3,135,358. That was 97.7% of 2019 levels. The Statistics and Census Service said October’s visitor arrivals were dominated by mainland China visitation, which was up 16.1% to 2,263,443. Foreign visitor arrivals were up 31.2% to 212,284, which is the best month since the pandemic, at 98.8% in October 2019. For the first 10 months of 2024, arrivals totaled 29,056,272, up 28.1%.

Hotelivate said India is seeing a raft of signups in the branded hotels segment, adding to the growing pipeline of rooms of Indian and global hospitality chains. Their data showed at the start of November, about 94,000 branded hotel rooms across segments were to be added by 2028-2029. The inventory of existing branded hotel rooms stands at 192,000. Hotelivate said Indian Hotels Company has the maximum number of rooms set to open in the next three to four years at 17,354. Marriott International said they expect to open 40 hotels with over 6,500 rooms in the next five years. Radisson Hotel Group has a pipeline of 81 hotels spanning 7,985 keys. With Hilton’s recent deal with Olive by Embassy to open 150 Spark by Hilton hotels, they are set to grow to 200 trading and pipeline hotels over the coming years.

Rajdhani Realcon Private Limited announced the opening of Wyndham Garden Sonipat Murthal in partnership with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. The hotel has 92 contemporary spacious rooms and a host of amenities, including an all-day dining restaurant, lobby lounge, fitness center, spa, swimming pool, large meetings and event spaces and a business center. Wyndham said this marks a milestone in their expansion across India as it is their first Wyndham Garden hotel in the country and strengthens their presence in the North India market.

Grand Hyatt held their groundbreaking ceremony in Dhaka, marking the start of a luxury hotel within the Meghna Group of Industries’ MGI Tower. The upcoming hotel will be housed within the MGI Tower that is under construction by Meghna Group of Industries. The MGI Tower will feature six underground levels and 39 floors above ground, with a total height of 152.4 meters and a floor area spanning 146,000 square meters.

Hilton announced the signing of the first LXR Hotels & Resorts property in China, marking the debut of the luxury brand in the country. Hilton is in collaboration with Zhong Ding Guo Sheng on the LXR hotel, expected to open in 2027 in the heart of the historic and cultural city of Xi’an. The hotel will feature 118 rooms, dining offerings, a swimming pool, fitness center and a variety of wellness experiences.

Rebranding hotels is becoming a thing in Japan, and a switch in brand identity after a change in management is becoming much more common. The trend stems from a wave of hotel closures during Covid-19, which left many properties available for acquisition. Foreign hotel operators have seized on the opportunity to renovate the facilities and relaunch them under their own brand names. Domestic companies are also entering the market, increasing the competition. Accor rebranded 22 hotels in April that were previously operated by Daiwa Resort, with properties from Hokkaido to Okinawa relaunched under Accor brands such as Grand Mercure. Marriott International is gradually converting 14 former Unizo Holdings hotels in Four Points Flex by Sheraton, and IHG plans to reopen a hotel in Osaka this December under the Garner brand. That hotel was previously managed by the now-defunct WBF Hotels & Resorts. Hilton has been expanding its presence by rebranding properties under the DoubleTree by Hilton brand.

YOTEL Tokyo Ginza is set to debut this December, marking the brand’s first entry into Japan, further strengthening its presence in Asia. The hotel is located in the heart of Ginza, a 15-minute stroll from Tokyo Station. This will be YOTEL’s third location in Asia and its first venture into Japan.

The 260-room Ritz-Carlton Bangkok, the first in Bangkok, will open its doors on December 4th. The rooms start at 50 square meters for a Deluxe Room, with about half having balconies. The hotel also has the expansive 127 square meter Marigold and Amaranth Suites as well as club rooms with the Club Lounge being on the 23rd floor. Amenities include a shimmering main pool and adjacent kids’ pool, food and beverage options, a seventh-floor lobby, and more.

Missoni, the Italian fashion company, has unveiled the latest Missoni Resort Club project in collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, transforming the exclusive beachfront into the Missoni Resort Club. The luxury hospitality partnership in Nusa Dua, Bali, makes it an exclusive experience in the region.

IOI Properties Group Bhd officially relaunched the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel in IOI Resort City outside of Kuala Lumpur last week after the completion of an RM100 million renovation. The five-star hotel sits on 6.5 acres of land and is managed by IOI Properties and comprises 487 guest rooms, including 35 expansive suites. The renovations took place from February 2023 until November 2024 and were carried out in phases. The undertaking focused on refitting and renewing its guest rooms, lobby, restaurants, and private villas.