Fitch Upgrades Its APAC Outlook

STR reported China hotel data for the week ended June 22. Hotel RevPAR in China for the week was up 2.2% year over year, up against a +43.9% year over year comparable result in 2023. The Dragon Boat Festival Holiday timing may have boosted results as it was 12 days earlier than in 2023. Occupancy for the week in China was up 14.6% year over year.

Fitch Ratings revised its 2024 outlook for APAC lodging to improving from neutral, reflecting what they see is a robust recovery in travel volume and RevPAR in 1Q24 that exceeded the agency’s previous expectations. Fitch-rated issuers in the region include hotel operators and REITs based in Singapore, Japan, Maldives, Thailand and China. China has the most subdued economic outlook so Fitch is cautious that this may soften average daily rates within its domestic tourism sector. They expect a strong rebound in China’s outbound tourism, historically the cornerstone source market for the APAC region. Fitch expects 2024 outbound v