Taylor Swift Concerts Boost More Hotels

06.12.2023 - 23:58 / skift.com / Jason Clampet

STR reported that China hotel RevPAR was up 36.9% in the week ending July 22nd. That was up against a drop of -15.7% in the year-ago week. Versus the week in 2019, RevPAR was up 5.4%.
 
The South China Morning Post published an article on how cash-rich investors are looking to buy hotels in Hong Kong, taking advantage of discounts of as much as 30%.

Hotels, especially those near the city’s business districts, are high on investors’ priority after retail amid limited supply over the next few years, according to Colliers HK. Some hotel owners are looking to offload some assets to lower their interest rate burden as the HK Monetary Authority continues to raise interest rates, coupled with tourist arrivals continuing to be on the upward trek. HK visitor arrivals reached nearly 13 million in the first half of the year, on track for 30 million this year.

That is only -37% of the same period in 2019. According to the article, the latest deal in HK is for De Fenwick Service Apartment, about to be sold to China Tourism Group Hotel Holdings for HK$900 million. The 56-unit Wan Chai property was purchased in 2005 for HK$392 million.
 
CoStar said Singapore’s hotel bookings are increasing rapidly for 2024, with the market set to host several major events early in the year.

Forward STAR data shows Taylor Swift performing at Singapore National Stadium March 2-4 and 7-9 already added 10% to March 2024 occupancy on the books. Coldplay concerts in January increased occupancy on the books to 13%. Group bookings for Swift concerts between July 10 and 17 jumped from 6% to 13%.

The Rotary International Convention, set to take place between May 24-29, 2024, had group bookings peaking at 13% as of the end of May.
 
Vietnam’s tourism recovery continues to progress, with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism announcing 1.04 million international visitor arrivals in July, a new post-pandemic high. The July figure is around three times higher than during the same period last year, representing 79% of foreign tourists in the country in July 2019. For the first seven months of 2023, Vietnam has welcomed 6.6 million foreign tourists and already reached 83% of the full-year target.

A significant uptick in European arrivals and improvement from key Asian markets boosted July visitation. Chinese visitation only grew by 14%, and South Korea by 6%. Norway was the highest at 251% growth. Total revenue from tourists in the first seven months of the year is estimated at around VND416.6 trillion, representing 64% of Vietnam’s annual target.
 
The number of tourists to Hanoi in the first seven months reached 14.7 million, up 38.7%, according to the municipal Dept. of Tourism.