New Hotel Brand MGM Reserve Has Its Debut in China
Skift Take
Asian hospitality sector experiences mixed performance with China hotel RevPAR declining, while MGM debuts new brand MGM Reserve and Minor International, Four Seasons, and OYO-parent Oravel Stays announce expansion plans.
| CoStar's STR reported China hotel data for the week ended March 15th. Chinese hotel RevPAR was down -10.8% year over year for the week, up against what should have been an easy decline of -5.5% in the year-ago week. For the week ended March 15, 2025, hotel occupancy in China was down -3.5% year over year, while ADR was down -7.6%. Beijing said it had welcomed 940,000 foreign visitors in 2025, driven by expanded visa-free policies, contributing to a 23% rise in cross-border travel. The Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection said Beijing's total cross-border travel volume has surpassed 4 million in 2025, up 23% year on year. China has optimized its visa-free policies, extending unilateral visa-free exemptions to 38 countries while also implementing 240-hour (10-day) transit visa-free arrangements for travelers from 54 countries. Shanghai said its tourism revenue was record-breaking at 76.1 billion yuan (US$80.3 billion) in 2024. Domestic tourism revenue was 497.3 billion yuan, while inbound tourism hit nearly $11.1 billion, both new highs. Last year, Shanghai received 390 million domestic tourist visits and over 6.7 million inbound tourist visits. Macau recorded a total of 3,147,184 visitor arrivals in February, down -4.4% year on year. Visitor arrivals from the mainland fell -6.4% year on year to 2,291,662. The earlier Chinese New Year, starting in January in 2025, may have been the cause. International arrivals were up 17.9% to 207,728, with Korea up 41.8% at 9,330. Here is the key statistic. Overnight visitors in February were down -11.7% to 1,259,356, offset by same-day visitors rising 1.1% to 1,887,826. The best comp is the two months and January and February 2025 were up 10.4% year on year to 6,793,745. But again, this is being led by same-day visitor arrivals, up 20% to 4,043,105, while overnight arrivals in the first two months of the year were down by -2% to 2,750,640. Bloomberg reported Thailand had 80% approval of the participants in a public hearing of their entertainment casino complex bill. More than 70,000 people said they agreed with the overall content of a draft bill during the February 28-March 14 public hearing period held by the Finance Ministry. The big issue now seems to be the local gambling requirements. The government said they are open to incorporating suggestions to ease the high barrier of entry for the locals, right now at a bank account of $1.5 million. Inside Asian Gaming issued a story saying the level of enthusiasm by companies interested in entering the market is already waning and now they believe only six internationally-recognized operators can be considered likely to bid. IAG said they contacted 15 operators who have either publicly stated their interest or could be considered a candidate to bid. Still, the responses showed only six are serious, including three Macau operators, two US operators and one other Asian-based operator. Given what occurred with the mass exodus to the South Korean Incheon license and issues with Japan and Vietnam's casino experience, this is what we expected to happen when the government started making too many changes to the bill and it is not a good thing for those believing Thailand would be the next Singapore. Minor International Plc is set to bring all its hospitality brands under the Minor Hotels 'master brand,' the Economic Times reported. The CEO was quoted on this at the Global Hotel Alliance in Delhi. He described Minor Hotels as the mothership and all brands to be launched under the mother brand. The company believes by having the brands all individual, they have been missing the opportunity to cross-sell. So now if someone tries to book a Minor Hotels' branded hotel and it is sold out, they will be given alternatives to other Minor brands nearby. New hotel brand, MGM Reserve, will have its debut in mainland China, according to Macau Business. The property will launch in May in Zuhai, the nearest mainland city to Macau. Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality Ltd. gave the information about the hotel. The company is a joint venture between US-based MGM Resorts International and China's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. The Zhuhai Hotel will have guest rooms, villas, three restaurants of "distinct styles" and banquet space. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has partnered with Wuhan Jianzhuo Real Estate Company Limited, a subsidiary of Wuhan City Construction Group Co., to develop a landmark luxury hotel in the heart of Wuhan. The new Four Seasons Hotel Wuhan is expected to open in 2029, marking the brand's entry into the capital of Hubei province. The hotel will occupy the highest floors of the 53-story Sky Center in Hankou's primary business and financing district and will feature 220 rooms and suites overlooking Zhongshan Park. The operator of the Imperial Hotel chain announced it named its luxury hotel opening in spring 2026 in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward in a renovated historic landmark as the Imperial Hotel, Kyoto. Imperial Hotel Ltd will utilize the exterior of the Yasaka Hall in the Gion traditional entertainment district. Construction is expected to be completed in October. The seven-story hotel with two basement floors will house 55 guest rooms, restaurants, a spa, a gym, and other facilities. Filinvest Development Corp is expanding its presence in Clark, Pampanga with the opening of a new hotel and mall. They believe more locators are deciding to set up shop near the former American base. Filinvest said they are pushing forward with the development of Crimson Clark Hotel, expected to open in 2028. The five-star Crimson Clark will have 326 rooms with an average size of 43 square meters. OYO-parent Oravel Stays said they plan to ramp up the expansion of SUNDAY Hotels, eyeing 100 properties under the brand globally by the end of the next financial year. SUNDAY Hotels has opened 30 hotels in 10 countries across the globe, including India, UK, Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. They currently operate 13 of the hotels across India. |
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