China Continues Outbound Tour Suspensions

STR reported China hotel RevPAR for the week ended 11/12 was up 17.5% year over year. While that sounds impressive given the surge in Covid cases, when compared with the same week in 2019, pre-pandemic, RevPAR for hotels in China was down -40.5%. Absolute occupancy last week was 51.4% versus absolute occupancy a year ago of 43.4%. China reported more than 20,000 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday.

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced it would continue to suspend outbound tours by mainland travel agencies. Immigration clearance in Macau and Zhuhai went back to 24-hour NAT testing, changed back to the more stringent policy from the 48-hour window previously. Guangdong Province remains a hotspot for Covid, reporting 6,000 cases for Tuesday alone.

In the recent China Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, LE analysts report that China’s total hotel construction pipeline, at the close of Q3 2022, stands at 3,604 projects/684,288 rooms. Currently, the country has 2,543 projects with 462,132 rooms under construction, with projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months at 417 projects/78,990 rooms. Projects and rooms counts in the early planning stage stand at 644 projects/143,166 rooms. Through the first three quarters of 2022, China has opened 311 projects/49, 582 rooms. The LE forecast for new hotel openings expects another 248 projects with 32,524 rooms to open in the fourth quarter of 2022. In 2023, LE analysts forecast 708 new projects accounting for 110,744 rooms to open and in 2024 LE forecasts 846 new hotel projects/134,712 rooms to open throughout the country.

Pipeline by City at End of Q3 2022

Under Construction by Company

Brand Pipeline at End of Q3 2022

Australia will have its first St. Regis hotel after Marriott International announced a deal with property developer Gurner to bring the brand to the Gold Coast. The St. Regis Gold Coast will be in one of the three towers of the luxury $1.7 billion La Pelago resort-style project planned in the high-end Budds Beach precinct. The hotel is slated to open in 2025. The hotel will comprise about 185 rooms and suites with ocean and hinterland views. It will have the St. Regis signature services, including a bespoke butler service. La Pelago will sport 12,000 square meters of lifestyle amenities, including luxury residential homes and more than 5,500 square meters of international hospitality and retail space. The hotel development includes an expansive porte-cochere as well as a specialty restaurant, a world-class sky bar, pool bar and an exquisite lounge, and spa, along with a penthouse collection. This follows Marriott last month signing a separate deal to open a Ritz-Carlton in 2026 on the Gold Coast. Marriott partnered with local developers Pelligra and Giannarelli on that project, part of the $480 million waterfront development at Mariner’s Cove on The Spit.

Wink Hotels, described as Vietnam’s first homegrown lifestyle hotel brand, announced the opening of Wink Hotel Danang Centre, strategically located in the heart of Danang City’s prime downtown entertainment district. Wink Hotel Danang Centre is a 244-room social hub, featuring space-smart and chic rooms in four categories: standard, twin, family and a 2-bedroom suite. Wink Space is on the nineteenth floor with a sky lobby where guests can self-check-in, enjoy a drink at the 24/7 Wink Bar and gets something at the Grad & Go area. There is a co-working space on the twentieth floor, in partnership with Toong. There is also a Wink Gym and Laundromat and on the ground floor is Wink’s first partnership with Brothers Men’s Boutique Salon and Phieu Bar + Brew. The hotel connects guests to the best of Da Nang City, in partnership with establishments like Blush Beach Club, the Montgomerie Links Golf Club, Danang365 Helicopter Tours and local places to eat. The third Wink Hotel, Wink Hotel Danang Riverside, is expected to open in Q2 2023 on Tran Hung Dao Street, offering 357 rooms, three floors of retail, bars, coffee shops and restaurants, and a rooftop swimming pool and bar.

ITC announced the opening of Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels, Jim Corbett, located on a hilltop in Uttarakhand, spread over 3.5 acres of woodland forests, about 45 minutes away from India’s premier National Park. The hotel has 62 guest rooms and suites with balconies and private sit-outs, boasting breathtaking views. There are multiple open areas with views of the Kosi river and green hills. The hotel offers among the largest banqueting spaces in the region, the WelcomCafe, Welcomsthalika, soon to open Swizzle Bar and a fitness center.

Lemon Tree Hotels announced its latest signing, Lemon Tree Hotel, Tezpur, Assam. The property is expected to be operational by March 2025 and will be managed by Lemon Tree’s Carnation Hotels Private Limited management arm. The property will feature 42 well-appointed rooms, a multi-cuisine restaurant, a bar, meeting room, fitness center and banquets along with other public areas.

A proposed investment by Bloomberry Resorts Corp into troubled IR casino resort developer PH Resorts Group is edging closer to completion. That is according to PH who said due diligence is nearing completion and certain terms and conditions of the transactions, including the method of payment and timing of closing, are in the process of being finalized. PH was supposed to be getting ready to open Phase 1 of The Emerald Bay in Cebu in the Philippines. PH was also developing the Base Resort Hotel and Casino in Clark but received permission to suspend the Clark development to focus on Emerald Bay. Both projects are facing financial constraints that saw construction work grind to a half.

According to Amber Asher, Standard International’s CEO, growth is a part of a long-term plan to bring the Standard chain to more locations in Europe and Asia as well as to enter Latin America, Travel Weekly reported. In late 2021, the company opened the Standard Hua Hin in Thailand, followed by the debut of the Standard Ibiza and the Standard Bangkok Mahanakhon. These new locations joined five existing Standard properties, two in New York and one each in Miami Beach, London and the Maldives. In the pipeline are projects under development in Austin, Texas; Brooklyn, New York; Brussels; Dubai; Dublin; Lisbon; Mexico; and Singapore. In addition to a robust pipeline for the Standard, the company’s Bunkhouse brand, which comprises of nine boutique hotels and motels across Texas, California, and Mexico, is also in expansion mode. The Hotel Genevieve in Louisville, Kentucky, the tenth Bunkhouse property, is on track to debut next year, and other Bunkhouse openings are slated to follow in Mexico City as well as in the Texas markets of Houston, Fort Worth and Fredericksburg. In Asia, Standard International is also pursuing conversion opportunities via a new brand, the Peri Hotel. The concept debuted with a pair of Thailand openings in Hua Hin and Khao Yai. A third, which will be the brand’s first new build, is on track to open in Bangkok in 2024. While standard International has its eye on plenty of farther-flung locales, a Los Angeles homecoming is also in the works.