Alan Woinski

Occupancy rates at hotels in Macau rose by 25.4 percentage points in January year over year, reaching 74%. The Standard Hotel is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2023 near Orchard Road in Singapore , across from Shangri-La Singapore along Orange Grove Road. Hiap Hoe has entered into a franchise agreement with Luxury Hotels International of Hong Kong to operate two hotels at 16 AH Hood Road and 1 Jalan Rajah and rebrand them as Aloft Singapore Novena .

Lodging stocks were mostly lower on Friday. PLYA bucked the trend with an 8% gain on stronger-than-expected earnings. SOND was down another -8%, VCSA fell -7% and SLNA traded down to yet another new all-time low. Besides Playa Hotels’ strong results, Ryman Hospitality Properties took part in the winding down of earnings season with results that were better than their December update. HRI Hospitality announced the topping out of its new hotel project, Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown .

Marriott Vacations missed expectations with their 4Q report, primarily due to their exchange and rental businesses as their core VOI business outperformed. Chatham Lodging Trust reported an in-line 4Q for EBITDA. They did not give 2023 guidance. Accor reported good results and forecast higher RevPAR for 2023 , very optimistic due to the return of the Chinese traveler.

China hotel RevPAR rose 62.1% year over year, up against a 14% comp. Fiji ’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism announced they have recovered 71% of their tourist numbers since the reopening of their borders. Low-cost Singapore-based airline Scoot has outlined plans to triple the number of weekly flights to and from China by April.

The earnings parade continues with REITs dominating the past 24 hours. PebbleBrook Hotel Trust reported 4Q results that matched their pre-announcement but gave 1Q guidance that was softer than expected. Sunstone Hotel Investors results came in slightly ahead for 4Q with an extra $10 million insurance gain also put in there. Park Hotels reported strong results even with San Francisco continued weakness. PK said group revenue is back to 83% of pre-pandemic levels.

Singapore has urged Chinese authorities to restore flight capacity between the two nations to pre-Covid levels as soon as possible in a bid to improve business and tourism ties. South Korea will increase the number of flights into the country from China to 80 from 62 per week by the end of this month. European Union countries have agreed to phase out pre-departure Covid testing for travelers from China by the end of the month.

Lodging stocks were lower: There was only one mover of note, SLNA with a -6% drop getting near an all-time low today, but there was a sea of red on the screen today. DiamondRock Hospitality reported a solid 4Q. DRH had given preliminary results in January but still beat expectations even with comparable RevPAR below consensus as margins made up the difference. IHG reported a good quarter but the highlight was the announcement of a $750 million share buyback for 2023

The World Travel & Tourism Council reported positive signs of recovery for the Asian travel and tourism sector with five major metropolises seeing a significant economic rebound . Macau visitor arrivals in January doubled year on year, reaching nearly 1.4 million, but a hospitality and tourism management professional has warned Macau will only see half of the yearly pre-pandemic visitors this year . Accor announced plans to open a Mercure property in Tokyo, Japan. Mercure Tokyo Hibiya will be housed within the existing Uchisaiwaicho Heiwa Building, close to JR Shimbashi and Uchisaiwaicho stations .

The Philippines Hotel Sales and Marketing Association said hotels in the country remain optimistic of the industry’s performance this year as the average occupancy has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Marriott International is planning 14 new luxury properties opening in the Asia Pacific region this year. IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of voco Bangkok Surawong with Tawanna Property Company Limited, a real estate investor and developer in Thailand .

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was up 16.4% in January from December. The Hotel Brand sub-index was up 16.2% and the Hotel REIT sub-index rose 17.1%. Hilton, Easton’s Group of Hotels and the Gupta Group announced the opening of Canopy by Hilton Toronto Yorkville, marking the brand’s Canadian debut. The DJIA rose 130 points on Friday while Nasdaq was down 69, the S&P 500 was down 11 points and the 10 year treasury yield took a breather, down -0.4 to 3.83%. Lodging stocks were lower.