Oberoi Group

In Q2 2023, the Asia Pacific hotel construction pipeline reached a record high of 1,936 projects with 401,766 rooms. Luxury, upper upscale, and upscale projects dominated the pipeline. Countries with the largest pipelines are India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan. Macau has surpassed Hong Kong as the preferred travel destination for mainland Chinese travelers in 2023, receiving nearly twice as many visitors. Around 50.9% of outbound Chinese travelers chose Macau, while Hong Kong received about 26.7%. Mainland Chinese tourists prefer destinations in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Accor is expanding its hotel offerings. They are introducing the Handwritten Collection in Thailand with the Andaman Beach Hotel Phuket, opening a Mercure hotel in Lucknow, India, and launching Lords Inn hotels in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and Kanki, West Bengal. Accor has also partnered with Reliance Industries and Renest Hotels & Resorts for new properties.

-Stock market saw gains: DJIA up 247, Nasdaq up 127, S&P 500 up 29. Various hotel reopenings and renovations, including The Hadsten Solvang and The Woodlands Resort. New hotel projects and expansions, such as Deer Valley Resort and Canopy by Hilton Cannes.

China hotel RevPAR showed significant year-over-year growth of 50.4% for the week ending July 1, 2023, compared to a decline in 2019 and 7.6% decline in the same period. Vietnam's international visitor numbers reached 70% of their 2023 projection but remained below expectations due to fierce competition and an economic recession. Domestic tourism in Vietnam is also experiencing a decline. Worldwide Hotels Group made significant acquisitions in Melbourne and Singapore , representing the largest hotel transaction in Melbourne in over six years and the largest single-asset Singapore hotel transaction in Asia Pacific in 2023.

STR said Southeast Asia’s hotel industry is seeing the return of MICE . While leisure travel has shown the most resilience in the region, much of the recent demand in Southeast Asia can be linked to MICE travel and events. The Singapore Tourism Board said the number of visitors from India rose by 3.5x in the first quarter of 2023, year over year. IHG Hotels & Resorts announced plans to expand its presence in Asia through developments in Nepal and Indonesia .

STR reported China hotel RevPAR for the week ended January 28 was up 177.8% year over year. When compared with the same week in 2019, China hotel RevPAR was up 66.6%. STR said Southeast Asia sits at the lower end of recovery compared to other STR-defined subcontinents. They are above Northeastern Asia in terms of occupancy and average daily rate in 2022. Dusit Hotels and Resorts will add 14 hotels and resorts to their portfolio this year across China, Greece, India, Japan, Kenya, Nepal and Thailand .

Singapore hotels’ average room rate was up 27.7% in December 2022 from a year ago to a new 14 year high of S$285.84. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax refund program for foreign tourists by 2024 to attract more visitors. The first Hilton hotel in Japan’s Hokuriku region has opened. The DoubleTree by Hilton Toyama is located within a three-minute walk of Toyama Station.

China’s southern city of Shenzhen has three neighborhoods that are the latest to be locked down due to the spread of Covid. June data from the Australian Bureau of Stations reveals outbound travelers are growing at almost three times the rate of inbound as Australians continue to flock overseas . Macau’s hotel occupancy rate fell by -25.6 percentage points year on year on July to 38.1%. That was down a percentage point from June.