Analysis for Asia

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it will manage a new hotel in Tianfu, a modern business district south of Chengdu, the capital city of China’s Szechuan province. Tianfu New Area is expected to become the future commercial centre of Southwest China.  

Accor has opened the first property under its MGallery brand of boutique hotels in South Korea’s capital Seoul. The 196-room Hotel Naru Seoul – M Gallery Ambassador is located in Seoul’s Mapo-gu district, and offers views of both the city’s skyline and the Han River.

The hospitality group has recently expanded its MGallery portfolio in Australia with a landmark 400th property across Australia and the Pacific, while other brands are growing in Morocco and Mexico, among other recent announcements.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has revealed that an affiliate and Kiraku, Inc have entered into a strategic joint venture that will launch a collection of modern-style hot spring ryokans (Japanese-style inn) in Japan targeting global travellers under the new hospitality brand, ATONA.

Hyatt and Kiraku will each own 50% of the joint venture and say they will “leverage the expertise and strengths” of the two brands to develop this new offering.

Marriott International expects to open 14 additional luxury properties in Asia Pacific by the end of 2023. The planned additions highlight the strategic growth of Marriott International's luxury hotel portfolio in the region, where it currently operates 156 luxury properties across brands, including The Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, EDITION, JW Marriott, and Bulgari.  

Accor has entered into a partnership with real estate company Tokyu Resorts and Stays Co to introduce its first dual-branded property in Japan. Located in Osaka it is due to open in Dec-2022 and will combine Accor’s midscale Mercure brand and Japanese long-stay brand Tokyu Stay.  

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with Pan Pacific International Holdings Corporation to open Hotel Indigo Tokyo Shibuya in late 2023. The property will be the fourth Hotel Indigo-branded hotel in Japan, following Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora which opened in 2020, and Hotel Indigo Karuizawa and Hotel Indigo Inuyama Urakuen Garden, both of which opened earlier this year.  

Accor will add Sofitel and Emblems properties within the Hann Lux resort in the Philippines, while its has opened a flagship hotel under its budget Ibis Styles brand in Thailand’s capital. The growth follows the recent debut of the MGallery brand in the Philippines and the first Grand Mercure property in Solo, Indonesia.  

Hilton has announced six landmark luxury property signings across Asia Pacific formalising a deal to debut the Waldorf Astoria brand in Malaysia with the opening of the Waldorf Astoria Kuala Lumpur in 2024. The further signings include Waldorf Astoria Xi'an, Waldorf Astoria Shanghai Qiantan, Waldorf Astoria Sydney, Conrad Nagoya and an LXR Hotels & Resorts property in Bali.  

UK developer Ennismore encompasses a portfolio 14 brands with 90 operating properties and further 160 in the pipeline – and a collection of over 150 culturally relevant and diverse restaurants and nightlife destinations.

Its latest expansion sees it growing its activities in New Zealand with agreement to bring the JO&JOE, Hyde and TRIBE brands to the country.

Asia Pacific international travel and tourism remains in the doldrums.

While the region had initial been expected to be one of the fastest to recover during 2021, the combination of disparate national responses to COVID-19, long border closures and other restrictions, and the imposition of burdensome travel requirements, have meant that international tourism in the Asia Pacific has remained at a near standstill.

The region’s three largest outbound travel markets – China, Japan and South Korea – have been among the slowest major markets to recover.

At the same time, some key inbound tourism markets continue to suffer from reduced travel from their historical source markets in Europe, North America and Oceania. Thanks to heightened concerns around health risks and travel disruptions, travellers in these markets are opting for travel closer to home.