HotelNewsNow.com each week features a news roundup from a different region of the world. Today’s review covers Europe.
Accor sells Motel 6, Studio 6 to Blackstone
Paris-based Accor has signed an agreement to sell its U.S. economy hotels division to an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII for $1.9 billion. The network includes Motel 6 and Studio 6, an extended-stay economy chain, and comprises 1,102 hotels with 107,347 rooms in the U.S. and Canada.
Europe hotel performance
The European hotel industry posted mixed results in year-over-year metrics when reported in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds for April 2012, according to data compiled by STR Global, sister company of HotelNewsNow.com.
Dutch economy aims for recovery
Like most western countries, the Dutch hotel industry has a strong focus on the business segment and as such is very much dependent on the development of both the national and international economies, according to Marco van Bruggen of Horwath HTL. The Dutch economy was hit hard in the recent financial crisis, leading to an economic decline of 4% in 2009, followed by a slow recovery in 2010.
In the third and fourth quarters of 2011, the economy was once more in decline as a result of the European debt crisis. The outlook for the rest of 2012 and 2013 is slow economic growth at best.
In the long term, however, the outlook remains positive. Despite the current downturn, the economy in the Netherlands and the surrounding countries is expected to show a moderate but consistent growth during the next five to 10 years, which bodes well for business demand. Additionally, the Netherlands remains an attractive tourist destination, particularly for upcoming markets such as China and Brazil. The coming years will show if this demand can increase fast enough to meet the growing supply.
Prague market on the rebound
The hotel performance figures for the 12 months to February 2012 show Prague’s hotel market is recovering from the economic crisis, with occupancy and average rate both growing. As a result, revenue per available room saw growth in both euro and Czech koruna terms; growth was largely led by increases in occupancy, according to HVS.
Europe hotel development pipeline
The Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 908 hotels totaling 145,437 rooms, according to the April 2012 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report. Year-to-date 2012, 82 properties have opened totaling 10,071 rooms. There are 197 more properties planned to open in 2012 with 30,851 rooms.
The upscale segment is expected to add the most rooms during the remainder of 2012 with 44 properties comprising 7,213 rooms, followed by the unaffiliated segment (43 properties with 5,406 rooms) and the upper-midscale segment (34 properties with 5,074 rooms).
IHG appoints new chairman
U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group announced David Webster will retire 31 December 2012. He has been chairman of the group since January 2004 and a member of the board since April 2003. Patrick Cescau will become chairman upon Webster’s retirement.
Wyndham to brand, manage 20 HPT hotels
Wyndham Hotel Group will brand and manage 20 Hospitality Properties Trust hotels with the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand names. As part of the agreement, four of the hotels will become Wyndham Hotels and Resorts properties and 16 will become Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham hotels. All 20 properties will be managed by the Wyndham Hotel Group management company under a 25-year management contract. Wyndham Hotel Group will have two consecutive 15-year renewal options, which may be exercised for all of the hotels.
Deals and developments
- Hilton Worldwide last week opened the Hilton Bursa Convention Center and Spa and Hampton by Hilton Bursa—the company’s first dual-branded property in Turkey. The upscale Hilton Bursa Convention Center and Spa offers 187 guestrooms including 12 suites; the economy Hampton by Hilton Bursa offers 107 guestrooms.
- IHG signed its first Hotel Indigo in Wales. The Hotel Indigo Queen Street Cardiff will be managed by Sanguine Hospitality Limited, which has four other Hotel Indigo properties in their portfolio.
- Jumeirah Group opened its first European resort earlier this month: the 120-room Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa in Mallorca, Spain.
- For the 2013 tourist season, the Sol Magalluf Park hotel, adjacent to the Katmandu Park in Mallorca, Spain, will be transformed into a Katmandu-themed hotel. Known as Sol Katmandu Resort, the project will offer the island's only hotel park resort experience.
- Whitbread opened the 83-room Premier Inn Leicester Square in downtown London.
- Travelodge opened two new properties in Edinburgh: a 96-room property in Edinburgh above the city’s largest Topshop clothing retailer; and an 85-room hotel on Queens Street. The assets represent £18.5 million ($29 million) in total investment and have boosted Travelodge’s portfolio to 11 within the city.
- The Rezidor Group announced the 100-room Radisson Blu Resort, Tsinandali in Georgia, which is scheduled to open in 2014.
- Rezidor also announced the 91-room Park Inn by Radisson Glasgow City Centre, which is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2013.
- Interstate Hotels & Resorts entered into a management agreement for The Marker, a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Dublin. The 187-room hotel is expected to open in early 2013.
- Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency has sold the 141-room Morrison Hotel in Dublin to Russian millionaire Yelena Baturina for €22 million ($28 million). The hotel opened in 1999 and was previously owned by Irish hotelier and developer Hugh O’Regan before it fell into administration in 2010, according to HVS.
- BDL Management Limited has purchased the Holiday Inn Express Greenock on Scotland’s Clyde Coast, near Glasgow, from a group of high-net-worth individuals for an undisclosed sum. BDL has managed the recently refurbished 71-room hotel since 2001, according to HVS.