Growth Disparity in Asia-Pacific Hotel Markets

Savills Hotels said Vietnam's hotel market is seeing strong growth with a 15% rise in RevPAR and rising occupancy rates driven by international tourism recovery. The RevPAR Index was up 15% in the first seven months of 2024, year over year, which is one of the highest growth rates in Southeast Asia. Beach destinations such as Nha Trang-Cam Ranh and Phu Quoc have seen occupancy rates surge. Despite the occupancy boost, average room rates remain 3% lower than last year, largely because properties in areas like Nha Trang and Phu Quoc are still establishing themselves. Savills said the first big round of branded hotel development in Vietnam was in 2008-2019 and the agreement typically lasts 10 to 15 years. Developers now have a choice to renew the contracts or explore other options. Savills said renovations and rebranding to higher-tier brands may be on the horizon. Vietnam is second in the development pipeline, excluding China, behind India with 191 projects underway with 49,800 rooms set for completion by 2028. Nearly 75% of the projects are midscale to upscale hotels. Almost 70% are chain-branded.

CoStar's STR said that, with the first three quarters of 2024 in the books, there is a clear disparity in growth across various Asia-Pacific markets. They noted the three "buckets" as being markets experiencing declines in demand and rate, such as China and New Zealand; slow and steady growth markets like the Maldives, Philippines, Singapore, and Australia; and the clear outperformers like Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. STR believes Japan and Vietnam are best poised for continued growth.

Macau visitor arrivals for the first six days of Golden Week totaled 915,696, above the 897,020 recorded in pre-Covid 2019 and clearly well above the Macao Government Tourism Office's unusual prediction of 100,000 visitors a day they gave out mid-September. Average daily visitation is 152,616 but the trend has been going down with only 123,288 visitors on Sunday. For the eight days of Golden Week in 2023, the total was 931,000 so the seven days this year is sure to beat that.

Travelodge Hotels Asia announced the grand opening of Travelodge Kyoto Shijo Omiya, the second Travelodge property in Kyoto and the fifth in Japan. The hotel offers a variety of room types including Standard Queen, Standard Twin, Superior Queen, Friends and Family Triple and Accessible Room, ranging from 14 square meters for the Standard Queen to 21 square meters for the Friends and Family Triple. The hotel is located in the Shijo Omiya district of Kyoto.

Minor Hotels announced Layan Life by Anantara, a world-class wellness retreat at Anantara Layan Phuket Resort, is officially open. Layan Life offers bespoke three to ten day programs for guests with goals such as weight management, de-stress, fitness and anti-aging and more. The two story facility totals 1,767 square meters and includes a 220 square meter gym, 60 square meter yoga studio, 35 square meter Pilates studio, meditation rooms and a hydrotherapy area on the lower level. The upper floor houses medical and holistic facilities, rooms for consultations, physiotherapy, TTM, aesthetic treatments, IV procedures and medical treatments including cryotherapy, hyperbaric chamber, and hydro colonic therapies.

Langham Hospitality Group and Rabbit Holdings, an affiliate of BTS Group, announced the upcoming opening of The Langham, Customs House, Bangkok in 2026. The new hotel will be situated in the Thai Capital's Bang Rak district, occupying a complex alongside the Chao Praya River. The centerpiece of the site will be the city's old Customs House, a heritage building being restored. Accompanying the structure will be a former post office with luxury amenities, flanked by a modern structure that will house the property's 78 guestrooms. The Langham, Customs House, Bangkok is set to offer such signature elements as an outpost of The Langham, Hong Kong's three Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant, T'ang Court, a bar, pastry shop, and Chuan Spa.

Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing, has opened its doors. The hotel has 42 courtyard houses and is the group's second hotel in the Chinese capital. The hotel is situated within the cultural heart of Beijing's Central Axis. There are food and beverage options, one-of-a-kind event spaces and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, including a Tea House, healing space, and a fitness center.

Marriott International will set up a global capability center in Hyderabad, its first offshore unit in India. This will help support Marriott's various operations across its global enterprise in 141 countries and territories. Marriott Tech Accelerator is, in all likelihood, the first-ever GCC from a hospitality major being set up in India. It is an expansion of the company's global technology team and will support Marriott's tech infrastructure, engineering capacity, next-gen solution and security capabilities across its global enterprise in 141 countries and territories. Marriott will begin its GCC full-scale operations set to commence by the first quarter of 2025.

Indian Hotels Company accelerated its growth momentum of portfolio expansion in the first half of their FY2025 with 35 signings and 12 openings. This takes its portfolio to 345 hotels with an industry-leading pipeline of 115 hotels. 70% of the record amount of new signings were in fast emerging markets like Srinagar, Varanasi, Mangalore, Kanpur, Mysore, Hosur, and Lonavala. IHCL extended its presence in the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East with signings in Bhutan and Bahrain.

Personnel Moves

Megaworld Corp has appointed Kevin L. Tan as its new Executive Director, succeeding his mother, Katherine Tan, who stepped down on October 7. Kevin Tan was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Tan is also Vice-Chairman, President and CEO of Alliance Global Group Inc., the family-run holding company founded by his father, Andrew Tan.