Philippines

The global hotel industry is seeing increased activity with notable transactions in Vietnam, Macau, Japan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Thailand, and India. Key deals include Marriott International's operation of seven hotels from Vinpearl in Vietnam, Accor's new Novotel in Nara, Japan, and DoubleDragon's launch of the largest hotel in Bonifacio Global City in the Philippines. Several hotel brands are expanding their footprints, with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts signing two agreements with Fulcrum Ventures Asia and Marriott International's Fairfield brand entering Agra, India.

China's hotel industry shows strong recovery with a significant increase in RevPAR, benefiting companies like STR and driving pent-up travel demand, particularly from Chinese tourists. Major developments in the hospitality sector are underway in various locations, including Thane (Maharashtra) where Oberoi Realty plans to develop a luxury hotel managed by Marriott International or Hyatt, and Dhaka (Bangladesh) with multiple new five-star hotels expected to open in the coming years. Hotel projects and expansions are also taking place in Nagoya (Japan), Tokyo's Shinjuku area, San Fernando (Pampanga, Philippines), and Nha Trang (Vietnam), indicating growth and investments in these respective regions.

Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. is pushing forward with plans of increasing the number of keys in its homegrown Seda-branded hotels. Suba Group of Hotels marked another milestone in India’s Tech City – Bengaluru with the launch of Click Hotel Ayra in Seshadripuram, Bengaluru . The Novotel Jodhpur ITI Circle marks the twenty-third Novotel property opening in India.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the latest phase of their expansion strategy in the Philippines with the signing of a deal with SM Hotels & Conventions Corp. Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands in Singapore has completed the renovations on over 850 hotels rooms. Millennium Hotels announced the launch of M Social in Suzhou , the maiden property for the brand in China.

Vietnamese travelers are said to be opting for outbound tours due to the significant increase in the price of domestic flights as the holiday season approaches, according to travel agents and tour operators. The South China Morning Post said hotel room rates in Hong Kong are surging ahead of the Labour Day holiday. The number of visitor arrivals to Macau in March rose by 271.4% year over year to 1,956,867, according to the Statistics and Census Service.

Hotels were reported to be full in parts of the Philippines during the Holy Week break. The Commerce Federation of Macau Central and Southern District said Macau received over 300,000 visitors during the four-day Easter holiday period . Fosun Tourism expects a sustained boom in Chinese tourism in the second and third quarters. Fosun is planning expansions in resort projects in China’s tier I and tier II cities.

Macau saw over 93,000 tourists come to the SAR on Saturday over the Easter weekend. Macau tourism officials continue to try to narrow the gap between current visitation and 2019. Macau average hotel occupancy was about 75% in March . Officials are expecting up to 90% occupancy during the upcoming Labor Day holiday. Accor has 56 operating hotels in India . They entered the country almost two decades ago in 2004. Accor’s vision is to have 200 in five years’ time.

A Crisil Market Intelligence report predicted the revenue of premium hotels in India will rise 80% this current fiscal year. The Macao Government Tourism office said the number of mainland visitors to Macau reached 50% of pre-pandemic levels while the rebound of Hong Kong visitors is even stronger. The MGTO also said they completed the approval process for the Raffles at Galaxy Macau hotel tower, part of Cotai’s Galaxy Macau Phase 3 project.

Malaysia reopened its borders nearly a year ago and finally its hotel industry is getting back to pre-pandemic occupancy levels. The resort island of Phuket in Thailand has seen a surge of Russian travelers in the high season. That adds to a jump in regional visitation from India , Malaysia and Singapore . Reuters published an article on how the belief that airline stocks and online travel agencies would be the best Chinese travel reopening play was wrong.

STR reported China hotel data for the week ended March 18. China hotel RevPAR rose 134% on a year-over-year basis, up against an easy -46% comp result in 2022. Marriott International announced the milestone opening of  hotel number 1,000  in Asia Pacific , signaling its continued confidence in the long-term growth potential of the region. Sabre said they have found strong demand among Chinese outbound travelers, despite high airfare costs.