BERLIN — While Frankfurt-based Union Investment has traditionally focused on business travel for its hotel investments, the company has recently made a pivot to more leisure-driven assets.
Speaking with Hotel News Now at the International Hospitality Investment Forum, Andreas Löcher, Union's head of department investment management for hospitality, said the firm has more than 56 billion euros ($61.5 billion) in real estate investments scattered across the globe under management and couldn't ignore how leisure hotels have overperformed.
"We haven't been in that field prior, but now we've experienced through COVID that it's a quite resilient asset class," he said. "Therefore, we invested into our first resorts south of Munich some months ago, and we'll continue to do so."
Löcher said that doesn't mean Union Investment will abandon its long-held strategy of investing in business-driven hotels, particularly in the economy sector in urban locations.
While the company has investments across the globe, he said its investments in leisure resorts will focus on markets in Europe. He added the assets up for consideration will have to be in good shape and "fulfill certain requirements for" environmental, social, and corporate governance.
"Sometimes in the resort field, that's not always easy to fulfill," he said. "So this is something we're still trying to find out what will be the way to assess this. Just imagine the pool of a hotel where the carbon footprint might be a bit more challenging to get your arms around."
For more from HNN's interview with Union Investment's Andreas Löcher, watch the video above.