[ad_1]

The post Asia Pacific 1H 2022 hotel investment up 33% year-on-year appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily.

Recovery in Asia Pacific’s hotel sector continued to accelerate in 2022 with investment volumes for the first half of the year totalling $6.8 billion. According to JLL data and analysis, investments in the first half of 2022 represent 33.0% growth year-on-year and an 11.9% increase on 2019, demonstrating a return to pre-pandemic levels of capital deployment into the Asia Pacific hotels sector.

In total, there were 75 transactions in the first half of 2022, down 20.2% year-on-year and 33.0% on the first half of 2019 numbers. However, the total number of rooms transacted during the first six months of 2022 was 19,822, representing an increase of 29.9% versus the first half of 2021 and 9.4% during the pre-pandemic period in 2019. The increase in deal activity was influenced by a spike in portfolio transactions as institutional investors sitting on dry powder seek to deploy their capital more efficiently. However, according to JLL, ongoing momentum will likely be challenged by growing macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds in the second half of 2022.

“The resilience of Asia Pacific’s hospitality sector and reopening of borders have accelerated further in 2022, with pandemic-induced pent-up corporate and leisure demand ensuring that travel demand will soon be on par with pre-Covid levels. As a result, the two-year lull in investment activity has largely subsided, demonstrated by record levels of capital raised for deals across Asia Pacific gateway markets and resort destinations,” says Nihat Ercan, Senior Managing Director, Head of Investment Sales, Asia Pacific, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.

Investment activity was spread across various Asia Pacific markets as the opening of borders ensured that many markets transition from reliance on domestic demand towards inbound leisure and corporate business. However, the conflux of current favourable travel market conditions and the longer-term economic outlook is creating a disconnect between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations around pricing.

From an investment volume standpoint, Japan ($1.8 billion), Korea ($1.7 billion), and Greater China including Hong Kong ($1.6 billion), received the most capital in the first half of 2022. Singapore ($899.7 million), Maldives ($205.5 million), and Indonesia ($159.6 million) continued to recover strongly. Activity in Australia ($145.5 million) and Thailand ($37.7 million) was more subdued but will likely be bolstered in the second half due to numerous marque deals closing.

“A more sustainable recovery in travel will intensify the largest challenge faced by many investors of successfully deploying capital into investment grade product across the region. We remain steadfast in our conviction that total Asia Pacific hotel investment volume will cross the $10 billion mark despite the scarcity of assets coupled with macro and geopolitical headwinds that will continue to influence capital activity,” says Mike Batchelor, CEO, Asia Pacific, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.

Country highlights, based on JLL analysis and research, include:

• Australia: Transaction volumes in Australia were relatively muted over the first half of 2022 and down 66.0% on first half of 2021 volumes. According to JLL, there are approximately $700 million of deals that have exchanged but not yet settled, which will drive transaction volumes over the remainder of the year. Investors also remain eager to deploy capital into hotel assets in Australia and New Zealand with a ‘flight-to-quality’ strategy or in mid-market properties where active asset management or conversion of use can drive notable returns.
• China: Year-on-year hotel transaction volume decreased by 43.8% due to strict lockdown measures in many cities as a result of a resurgence of Covid cases in China, with many hotel transaction activities likely delayed to the fourth quarter of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023. JLL expects the combined impact of China’s “Three Red Lines” and “zero-Covid” policies to result in further price reductions of hotel assets and forecasts China’s hotel transaction volume to total approximately $2 billion in 2022.
• Japan: The market has seen a notable recovery in the first half of 2022 with the key Japan metros tracked by JLL up 91% for the year-to-date 2022 versus the same time last year. Investors remain steadfast to acquire hotel assets in Japan due to an expectation of strong domestic and international tourism demand due to the recent devaluation of the Japanese Yen. Against the backdrop of global rate hikes, Japan’s debt financing environment remains attractive to investors and, as such, JLL expects the country’s transaction volumes to remain strong for the remainder of the year.
• Singapore: As one of the first countries to lift most travel restrictions in Asia, Singapore has bounced back the quickest with year-to-date transaction volumes close to $900 million crossing pre-pandemic levels. Transactions have been most active in the mid-market space where investors identified opportunities to convert properties into co-living product to boost performance.
• Thailand: According to JLL, more hotels are entering the market as sellers are under increasing pressure to sell. While buyers are actively looking, they are opportunistic in their pricing and more conservative when making offers on properties. There are numerous private equity funds and family offices currently active in the Thailand hotel market and JLL is seeing an  increase in foreign interest with the lifting of travel restrictions. JLL forecasts transaction volumes to reach close to $300 million for full year 2022.
• Maldives: The market demonstrated its resilience in 2021 as a global gateway resort destination with hotels generally performing better than in 2019, despite the notable absence of Asian demand for much of the year. That momentum has carried over into 2022 and in turn the market has continued to attract the interest of investors from Asia, Middle East and Europe. Overall, we are forecasting higher investment volumes this year on the back of marquee sales such as the W Maldives and Sheraton Full Moon Resort, with more sales currently underway for the second half of the year.

The post Asia Pacific 1H 2022 hotel investment up 33% year-on-year appeared first on Travel Daily.

[ad_2]

Source link

[ad_1]

Online Travel This Week

There were winners, including Vrbo, Hopper, and Expedia, and losers such as Airbnb, in the first half of 2022 in the U.S. as online travel agencies competed with one another via mobile app updates; Snap, TikTok, and TV marketing campaigns; and other forms of paid search spend.

Here are seven takeaways from Apptopia’s U.S. app download findings (see chart below) among online travel agencies in the first half of this year:

1. It’s Good to Have Vacation Rentals
Apps that offers travelers vacation rentals generally have more traction than apps devoid of vacation rentals. Note to hotel chains such as Hilton and Hyatt that have largely abstained from vacation rentals: Get in the game. OK, we hear they are indeed readying a debut in vacation rentals, as is American Express Fine Hotels.

2. Vrbo Was Most Downloaded App
Fueled by doubling its growth rate in the U.S. in 2022, Vrbo was the most-downloaded app with 10 million downloads. Vrbo was #4 last year so it overtook , Airbnb, and Hopper to achieve its #1 status so far in 2022. Airbnb fell from second most-downloaded app in the U.S. in 2022 to fifth in the first half of 2022.

3. Airbnb Spent Marketing Dollars to Counter a Vrbo Organic Advantage
Vrbo was the top organic result for the keyword “vacation rentals,” which may be because it has always focused on and been known for whole homes. Airbnb invested in paid search for the keyword “vacation rentals” in Apple’s App Store in April, as well as for “vrbo” in a bid to topple its rival, Apptopia stated. At the same time, Vrbo increased its app update frequency in the first half of 2022, contributing to the app’s growth.

4. Hopper Takes Airbnb Down a Peg or Two

Apptopia said Hopper recently topped Airbnb as the online travel agency with the highest market share of monthly active users. Hopper is the fastest-growing online travel agency app. Maybe this fintech products of Hoppers really do have appeal — especially during times like this when traveling can be fraught.

5. Expedia and Hopper Are Battling Over Flights
Expedia launched flight price predictions in its app in late April, in part to compete with Hopper, which has gained share based on airfare predictions and its price freeze product. Expedia’s app has consistently ranked higher than Hopper’s in the app store for about a month since mid-May.

Expedia is the leading bidder on the keyword “flight” in the App store. Hopper, according to Apptopia, purchased eight keywords by April — most related to “flight” — but slowed its spend in May as downloads declined.

An Expedia Group spokesperson said Expedia didn’t launch airfare change notifications to compete with Hopper but to ensure that travelers feel confident about booking with Expedia.

A Hopper spokesperson said when asked about Expedia’s launch of flight price-change notifications: “Hopper is the only industry player that has been forecasting airfare up to a year in advance with 95 percent recommendation accuracy. To do this we leverage trillions of pricing data points, eight years of historical data and proprietary machine learning algorithms that are constantly adapting with real-time data. Dynamically pricing these fintech products properly, in order to generate revenue and delight customers simultaneously, is difficult and not easily replicated.”

6. Vrbo’s TikTok Campaign Was a Winner
Vrbo increased its presence in the consumer mindset by advertising on TikTok for the first time in the first half of 2022, leveraging a TV campaign through a hashtag challenge on TikTok. “The challenge generated 4.7 million views in three days, with 1.9 million videos being created, 12 million comments made and 37 million shares,” according to Broadcasting+Cable.

7. The Booking.com App Gained U.S. Market Share

The Booking.com app, which was the third-most-downloaded in the first half of 2022, “was the only online travel agency app to consistently gain market share in the U.S. in 2022,” Apptopia stated, and Booking.com’s Snap campaign may have contributed. 

Booking.com participated in a beta for Snap’s dynamic travel ads, and used it to remarket hotels that Booking.com site visitors had previously seen on Booking.com.

In Brief

Buy Now Pay Later for Flights Tripled Over July 4 Weekend

Travelers want to fly even if they can’t really afford it. Affirm  reported that purchases of its products, such as buy now pay later for flights, tripled year over year over the July 4 weekend. 

Property Manager Tries to Sell Its Tech Assets

WanderJaunt, a U.S.-based vacation rental property manager that abruptly shut down last month, is running a sale of its tech assets, Skift has learned. Skift

 Vacasa Lays Off Salespeople

Property manager Vacasa laid off a small number of its salespeople — around 25 — as it restructured to focus on inbound sales. Since reporting about the restructuring, Skift has also learned Vacasa gave an ultimatum to many other sales staffers to produce or face the consequences. Skift

[ad_2]

Source link