Rajasthan

Hotels in Vietnam, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, are experiencing closures and are being listed for sale due to lower-than-expected visitors, revenue, and the need for capital expenditure. Centara Hotels & Resorts is entering the Japanese market with the opening of Centara Grand Hotel Osaka, featuring 515 rooms, world-class dining options, and extensive meeting facilities. The Philippines conglomerate Alliance Global Group plans to allocate Php4 billion for the expansion of Manila's Newport World Resorts, part of a broader Php70 billion investment for 2023.

Marriott International partners with Hiap Hoe Limited to bring the Aloft Hotels brand to Singapore, opening the largest Aloft branded hotel in the world with 785 rooms in Zhongshan Park. Pan Pacific Hotels Group unveils its flagship hotel, Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore, featuring terraced greenery and a unique Atelier-in-Residence program, along with three dining concepts and a gin distillery. Gran Melia Nha Trang in Vietnam is set to open as an all-villa property with private pool villas, Asia's first outpost of the Spanish restaurant Hispania, and a range of wellness offerings.

STR gave their 2022 summary, saying among the global regions, Asia was the only one to see a decline in revenue per available room when compared with 2019. There seems to be a different in opinion about how Chinese New Year is going for the Asian region. Japan Today published an article saying Asia travel hotspots are quiet as Chinese tourists stay away, but the article seems to miss the true situation. Dow Jones, on the other hand, published an article saying China’s tourism sector has recovered to pre-pandemic levels with travelers venturing out during the Chinese New Year holidays.

The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the country has decided to resume outbound group travel to selected countries including Sri Lanka early next month. The Philippines Dept. of Tourism said it is aiming to attract 4.8 million foreign visitors in 2023, almost double the 2.6 million in 2022. The initial goal in 2022 was 1.7 million arrivals. Sri Lanka Tourism is looking at attracting 1.5 million tourist arrivals for 2023. They are optimistic about achieving revenue of US$2.8 billion from tourism for this year.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told the media that many foreign nations had responded warmly to the country’s newly relaxed Covid-19 regulations. The Macau government said that, as of this Sunday, they will officially end all quarantine requirements for all nationalities entering Macau. Vietnam said its tourism sector raked in about US$408.3 million in revenue during the three-day 2023 New Year holiday .

STR  reported China hotel data for the week ending 10/8. China hotel RevPAR was down -16.5% year over year (Golden Week). When compared with the same week in 2019, RevPAR was down -12.7%. People’s Daily , considered the Communist Party’s way of getting the message out to the Chinese, said China should stick with its zero-Covid strategy . Hyatt Place Huangshan Train Station , the first Hyatt-branded hotel in Huangshan, is officially open.

While  Golden Week was a bit tarnished for hoteliers in China , it created a breeding ground for Covid cases and that was not a disappointment. The number of Adelaide hotel rooms filled in one night  hit a new high last month. For Macau , a Covid boom means new quarantine and other measures, bringing down the mood after there were 163,000 mainland visitors entering the city during the seven days of Golden Week.

Hyatt Hotels Corp announced plans for its continued growth in the Asia Pacific market. They unveiled a robust pipeline of landmark luxury and lifestyle hotels and resorts. CEL Australia has listed The Sebel Hotel Mandurah for sale as Western Australia reopens to the world post-pandemic. Andrew Tan’s flagship property firm Megaworld is opening a new Belmont Hotel within the 30-hectare Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

Vietnam’s tourism sector  is forecast to record US$11.1 billion in revenue in 2024, which would  exceed the 2019 tourism revenue number  of US$10.8 billion. Hotelivate said Tier-III cities with resort locations in India have seen the strongest recovery amid a rebound in leisure tourism. Accor is expanding its presence in the Philippines  with the signing of two new properties in Clark City.