While Japan continues to enjoy a moment of exceptionally strong international travel demand, hotels in other Asia-Pacific markets, particularly those in Australia, are seeing solid but unspectacular performance.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Hotel News Now podcast, Matthew Burke, regional director for the Pacific, Japan and South Asia at STR, said across the region there continues to be growth, but also a bit of disappointment.
"When we're talking to clients and we're looking at the numbers, I kind of get a sense of how that has materialized," he said. "People had a set of expectations in terms of what growth might have been. Growth is still coming through for the majority of the region, but it's not the growth that everyone may have expected it to be."
In Australia in particular, hotel rate growth has been on the weaker side, and a continued lack of group demand is a factor in the disparity between reality and expectations, Burke said.
In terms of Japan's outsize success in the region, Burke said that while much of the success there has been tied to favorable currency exchange rates, that wouldn't move the needle for more travelers if there wasn't an underlying desire to travel to the market.
"It's an interesting thing because previously currency was never really a driver of people's decision-making [on whether they] really want to go there," he said. "It was obviously an element, but it wasn't ever a driver. ... Everyone's kind of wanted to see Japan."
For more of HNN's interview with Matthew Burke, listen to the podcast above.