Read the latest news from around the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong’s Ovolo Hotel Group has laid claim to the title of being the first hotel group to offer vegetarian-led cuisine, reports HNN contributor Selena Oh. All of the company’s assets started moving toward full vegetarianism in 2020.

Executive Chairman Girish Jhunjhnuwala said the company’s “Plant’d” and “Year of the Veg" campaigns, in which hotels across the group promoted vegetarian and plant-based cuisine, have supported its commitment to “ethical eating and conscious cuisine.”

During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Marriott International CEO Tony Capuano said global revenue per available room in June came in at 1% above 2019 levels after excluding hotels in the Greater China region. Strict COVID-19 restrictions in Greater China continue to stymie hotel performance.

In the Asia-Pacific region excluding Greater China, Marriott's hotel RevPAR rapidly improved, and both India and Australia have more than fully recovered, said Leeny Oberg, executive vice president and chief financial officer. RevPAR for the region was down 22% compared to 2019 given the lack of travelers from Greater China and rigorous travel restrictions in Japan.

In Greater China, RevPAR declined more than 50% compared to 2019 because of lockdowns in many major cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, she said.

Scotland-based RBH Hospitality Management has signed a strategic alliance with Melbourne, Australia-based Gatehouse Hospitality to expand beyond the U.K., reports HNN’s Terence Baker. RBH CEO David Hart said the company’s long-term plans involve overseas expansion needed to find the best route and partner to make the jump.

“We’re clearly a third-party operator. We do not own or lease, so the exercise was in finding markets where third-party management can thrive and where there is some scale," Hart said. “We do want to get into [mainland] Europe, which remains big on leases and has numerous different legal systems and cultures, but that is a big jump. We could see scale immediately with a Gatehouse."

During Hilton’s second-quarter earnings call, President and CEO Chris Nassetta said that the pandemic-related slowdowns in China slowed the company’s performance in the Asia-Pacific region, reports HNN’s Stephanie Ricca. However, he said he expects that when domestic travel reopens in that country, "business can boom in a big way.”

In the Asia-Pacific region, comparable RevPAR fell 5% year over year and dropped 39% compared to 2019. The strict COVID-19 policies in China resulted in a 47% decrease in RevPAR compared to 2019. However, after restrictions eased, June occupancy in China reached 60%, six points below 2019 levels.

• Japan-based Polaris Holdings entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 13 hotels with 2,208 rooms operating under Thailand’s Red Plant Hotels along with two land sites for potential hotel development.
• U.S.-based Nobu Hospitality will open its first Nobu Hotel, restaurant and residences in Vietnam through a beachfront resort destination in Danang.
• Thailand’s government approved a project to grant 5 billion Thai baht ($141.1 million) soft loans to Thailand hotel operators and their supply chains.
• Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental International entered into an agreement to sell the Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C., to London-based Henderson Park for $139 million.
• Singapore-based investment and asset management company High Street Holdings acquired the 120-room Peppers Kings Square in Perth, Australia, for approximately 26 million Australian dollars ($18.2 million).

Editor’s note: Chris Nassetta serves on the board of directors of CoStar Group, Hotel News Now’s parent company.

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