China's Golden Week May Exceed Expectations

The Global Times confirmed what most already knew, Golden Week was truly Golden for tourism in China with a notable growth in passenger trips across the country and a surge in inbound and outbound travel. While some will say the added boost was the recent stimulus, that would be all psychological since there would be no way for the actual effects to be felt that soon. The commentary that the stimulus will show the worst is over and the Chinese economy should see stable growth the rest of the year could have boosted confidence enough to give a further boost. The last day of the weeklong National Day holidays had cross-regional passenger trips reaching more than 278.6 million, up 5.2% from the same period in 2023 and 24.8% growth from 2019, according to the Ministry of Transport. The MOT had expected daily trips to exceed 277 million during the holiday week. We expect the final numbers will see the average being higher than that. Ctrip said daily order volume for outbound and inbound travel exceeded 2019 with a record high.

The South China Morning Post said Hong Kong had nearly 1 million mainland visitors over the first five days of the National Day Golden Week, up 35% year on year. They said the tourism sector is expecting the momentum to continue at Christmas. The Director of Immigration told the SCMP that the city will record 300 million arrival and departure trips by the end of 2024, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Hong Kong residents were said to have made 1.26 million outbound trips over the first five days of the holiday. More than 200,000 left the city on October 1 with more than 220,000 mainland travelers entering the city that day. They expect the next spike in travelers will be for Christmas.

Hotelivate released a study showing the branded and organized hotel sector in India closed with a nationwide occupancy of 67.5% in 2023-2024, the highest in a decade. Average daily rate was Rs 8,055, the highest ever. RevPAR just missed the all time high at Rs 5,439. Mumbai led the occupancy rates surge at 79%, closely followed by New Delhi at 78.7% and Hyderabad at 75.1%. Hyderabad again recorded one of the highest RevPAR growths in the country, bolstered by a 26.2% rise in average rates. Overall, five star deluxe hotels were the standout with a 147.4% increase in RevPAR over a 24-month period. Five-star hotels followed with a robust 131% growth. Hotelivate said hotels charging average rates of Rs 7,500 or more have increased from 23% (354) hotels in 2022 – 2023 to 30% (517 hotels) in 2023 -2024.

The Philippines and South Korea are set to expand tourism ties, following the signing of implementation program of the Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation for 2024-2029. The program continues and expands the bilateral tourism cooperation between the two countries under an agreement first signed in 2006. Both countries have agreed to strengthen mutual development and competency in the fields of hotels, resorts, cruises, ports and tourism products.

Vietnam real estate developer Kinhbac City said its subsidiary has partnered with the Trump Organization to develop a $1.5 billion golf course and hotel project in Vietnam's Hung Yen province. The memorandum of understanding was signed in late September. The project consists of two 54 hole golf course systems, together with a network of hotels and resorts and a modern residential complex.

Hilton Grand Vacations announced it purchased the Citadines Kyoto Karasuma Gojo in Kyoto, Japan. This will be their first property in Kyoto and third property in Japan. HGV plans to fully renovate the property into 63 modern one-bedroom timeshare units, each equipped with kitchens. Planned resort amenities include a fitness center with restaurants, shopping, entertainment and historic landmarks a short walk from the property. Renovations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025 with project completion expected in the first quarter of 2026. The start of sales for the property is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025. HGV wants to expand its presence in Japan and the purchase of the Citadines property is their way of doing it. JLL assisted in brokering the transaction.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the opening of Svelte Delhi, a member of Radisson Individuals, marking the debut of its affiliation brand in the capital city. The 108-room Svelte Delhi, a member of Radisson Individuals, includes premium and superior rooms and spacious suites. The hotel is located in Select Citywalks, Saket, South Delhi. Amenities include a fitness center, rooftop pool, and all-day dining restaurant. The hotel is owned by Advent Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.

Cygnett Hotels & Resorts unveiled its latest property, Cozzet Bindal, Jamshedpur in the steel city of Jamshedpur, India. The hotel offers 46 rooms, exceptional banquet facilities including a large banquet hall that is 16,000 square feet and a smaller meeting room and board room. The hotel has an all-day dining restaurant. Shankar Gupta owns the Cozzet Bindal Hotel.

Leadership Move

Marcus Hanna was appointed Chief Operating Officer of La Vie Hotels and Resorts group. La Vie was the first independent hotel operator using the third-party model in Asia Pacific and now is present in 11 countries, operating hotels and maintaining offices in key cities. Hanna joins La Vie after almost two decades with Accor hotels most recently as VP of Operations Pacific, Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems. La Vie will soon open its first hotel in Laos, the Radisson Red in Vientienne and will soon unveil the refurbishment of Hobart's heritage hotel, The Islington.