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Asia-Pacific
Meetings and Events Boost Southeast Asian Hotels
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 . -
Asia-Pacific
Asia Pacific Hotels Wait for Chinese Travelers
Xxpectations for everyone in the Asia Pacific region was the reopening of China would cause a regional surge but so far, that has been muted. For February, the biggest proportion of tourists to Indonesia came from Malaysia , followed by Australia and Singapore . The Singapore Tourism Board has signed a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding with Flight Centre Travel Group Limited aimed at driving increased visitation to Singapore via FCTG’s global network. Las Vegas Sands is expected to complete their US$1 billion upgrade of hotel facilities at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore by the end of the year. -
Asia-Pacific
Chinese Outbound Travel Continues to Expand
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. -
Asia-Pacific
Philippines to Start Tax Refunds for Tourists
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. -
Asia-Pacific
Singapore’s Optimistic Tourism Forecast
Singapore said it is expecting between 12 million and 14 million international visitor arrivals in 2023. That would be more than double the 6.3 million final tally of visitors in 2022. Sortis Holdings, Inc. is acquiring boutique hotel company Ace Group International and its management company, Atelier Ace. Yesterday we reported on the Wyndham Danang Golden Bay in Vietnam and today we cover the Wyndham Vuon Vua Thanh Thuy . -
Asia-Pacific
Philippines Positioned for Surge in Tourism
Colliers is recommending developers in the Philippines line up various hotel projects in order to capture the surge in local and foreign tourists. Alliance Global Group, Inc. will accelerate expansion plans in the Philippines as they bet on a second wave of spending with the expected opening of the Chinese economy. The Clarks Hotels & Resorts strengthened its international footprint by opening Clarks Exotica Kamadhoo Maldives . -
Asia-Pacific
Macau Announces End to Zero-Covid Policy
Macau follows what China’s leadership tells them to and now it is confirmed that Zero Covid is dead. ONYX Hospitality Group unveiled plans to strengthen its serviced apartment brand, Shama . The Novotel Bali Benoa has reopened following a major renovation that will reposition the beachfront resort. -
Asia-Pacific
India Premium Hotel Inventory Demand to Increase
STR reported China hotel RevPAR for the week ended 11/5 was up 4.4% year over year. China’s Covid cases continue to surge with 8,824 new domestic cases reported on Wednesday. The state-run Xinhua news agency said authorities need to take a more targeted approach to tackling Covid outbreaks. Ratings agency Icra said they expect premium hotel inventory in India to increase 3.5% to 4% in the current fiscal year with an addition of around 15,500 rooms amid a recovery in demand. -
Asia-Pacific
Singapore Expects to Recover 80% of Pre-Covid Visitors
Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Culture, Community and Youth said Singapore’s visitor tally this year should be on the higher end of their 4 million to 6 million projection from July. According to September 2022 data from STR , Middle East & Africa was the only world region to show an increase in overall hotel pipeline activity at the end of the third quarter. JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s Hotel Investment Highlights Asia Pacific 2H22 said a combination of pent-up demand, a resurgence of cross-border transactions, and a buoyant travel industry will lift Asia Pacific hotel investment to over US$10.7 billion in 2022. -
Asia-Pacific
Australians Increasingly Traveling Abroad
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.