According to international property consultant Knight Frank’s research, 2010 marked the end of a correction and the start of a recovery for China’s hotel market. Hotel demand has been picking up since 2010 as the number of tourist arrivals started growing again. In major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, hotel average daily rates (ADR) grew an average of 10.5% last year, while revenue per available room rose 34.9%. Five-star hotel occupancy also crept back to above the 60% level.
Mr. Thomas Lam, Greater China Head of Research at Knight Frank says, "I am pleased to announce the launch of Knight Frank’s Greater China Hotel report. The report will provide investors and readers with an analysis of hotel markets in five major Greater China cities. In the first half of 2011, hotel operators continued to strengthen their foothold in the Greater China region. Among the five cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau – covered by this report, Macau was the most active market in the first half of 2011, where three large-scale, five-star hotels were completed in the period, providing over 4,000 rooms. Five hotels also opened in Shanghai, adding over 2,000 rooms to the city’s five-star hotel room stock, while hotel expansions in Beijing and Hong Kong were comparatively less aggressive during the period."
Mr. Lam believes hotel markets in all the five major cities would benefit from increasing demand from tourists, including tours and individuals, as well as business travelers, including those coming from the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) and corporate segments.
Mr. Lam concludes, “ in Shanghai, the number of overnight visitor arrivals is expected to be boosted in the coming years with the completions of major tourism projects and infrastructure projects. Guangzhou’s position as the business and exhibitions centre of Asia would be strengthened as Pearl River New City becomes a new Central Business District and Pazhou Island is developed into a recreational business district. Beijing, given its well-established international status for leisure and business, would continue to generate steady streams of visitors. Hotel markets in Hong Kong and Macau are expected to remain stable, as the cities are already well developed and offer unique competitiveness that cannot be easily substituted.”