Read the latest news from around the Asia-Pacific region.
Hotels in Asia-Pacific Region See Signs of Recovery
Despite the lack of international travel, hotels in the Asia-Pacific region are showing signs of a recovery, reports HNN’s Dana Miller on the STR COVID-19 Webinar: Asia-Pacific Hotel Performance Analysis. STR is CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm.
Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director of the Asia-Pacific, said the U.S. and Europe have opened up more than the Asia-Pacific region in terms of returning to office and easing travel restrictions. China stands out for its zero-tolerance policy toward COVID-19 while Japan has eased restrictions on vaccinated business travelers, South Korea plans to welcome arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 and India is officially open.
Multitasking a New Concept for Some Understaffed India Luxury Hotels
While India’s luxury hotels were known for having high staff-to-guest ratios, the loss of jobs during the pandemic have created a new staffing model that could stay on long term, reports HNN contributor Chitra Balasubramaniam.
“Labor as such has been an issue with the hotel industry where we have grappled with the lack of trained manpower-availability,” said Mandeep Lamba, president, South Asia, at business advisory HVS Anarock. “So, the challenge will continue as we will have to recruit and retrain manpower.
“We expect room-to-staff ratios to decrease permanently across all hotel types as hotel companies have discovered that the earlier staffing ratio may not be necessary to operate efficiently. Having said that, the staffing ratios were reduced, keeping in mind the occupancy levels during the pandemic, and we anticipate that most of the jobs lost in the Indian hotel sector last year will be restored as demand improves.”
STR: Australia’s Hotels Regaining Occupancy With Restrictions Eased
Preliminary data from STR shows easing travel restrictions and the ending of lockdowns helped improve occupancy levels at Australia’s hotels, according to a news release.
“Lockdowns and state travel restrictions have made the past four months extremely difficult for the hotel industry,” said Matthew Burke, STR’s regional manager for the Pacific region. “However, a progressive approach to vaccinations and the easing of restrictions have led to an increase in travelers and hotel demand with leisure guests driving performance. Based on our forward-looking data, and from the experience of Australia’s first recovery, we will likely see that leisure demand dominate recovery for the remainder of 2021.”
Deals, Developments, People on the Move
- Hong Kong-based Baring Private Equity Asia Real Estate acquired a newly built 306-room select-service hotel in Osaka, Japan, and it plans to brand the property as a Holiday Inn Express.
- NZ Hotel Holdings Asset, a partnership of sovereign wealth fund NZ Super Fund, the Russell Property Group and Lockwood Property Group, has acquired the 280-room Rydges Wellington Hotel for 100 million Australian dollars [$71 million].
- The joint venture of U.S.-based real estate investment trust Summit Hotel Properties and Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited acquired a portfolio of 27 hotels, two parking structures and various financial incentives for $822 million from U.S.-based NewcrestImage.