“In the last three weeks,we have started to see the major cities move from about 50 per cent to 75 per cent of demand compared to 2019.”
Accor’s 400-strong Australian and Pacific hotel portfolio includes the upmarket Pullman and Sofitel brands,mid-market Mercure and Novotel,and the economy Ibis range. Its leisure brands such as Movenpick,Mondriaan,25hours,Mama Shelter and Tribe make up about 40 per cent of its global portfolio.
“In April,we expect a very good period over the school holidays and Easter,” she said. “We think in 2023,we’ll be back to 2019 levels and potentially even more than that.”
“In the last quarter of this year,I think we’ll start to see international travel return. That’s what we’re planning for.”
Marriott International is undeterred by long-term impact of the pandemic,with plans to further expand its portfolio across Asia Pacific and aiming to open its 1000th property in the region in late 2022.
Accor will open a 7-level hotel with 87 premium suites in city-fringe Hawthorn. Credit:Artist’s impression
The chain’s upmarket brands are JW Marriott and the W Hotel,with the latter opening in Sydney’s Darling Harbour this year,and it plans to debut its AC Hotels brand in Australia with AC Hotel Melbourne Southbank.
Marriott is the third biggest hotel chain in Australia after the French-owned Accor Group and multinational,IHG Hotels and Resorts.
Craig S Smith,group president,international for Marriott International,said the group worked closely with the hotel owners throughout the past two years to navigate the challenges brought on by the pandemic,adapt quickly and grow.
“This year,we expect to continue to drive demand and growth,which is a testament to our talented teams committed to operational excellence,” Mr Smith said.
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IHG has not sat still with the opening last month of the Kimpton Margot in Sydney at 339-341 Pitt Street,being the former Primus Hotel,which was bought by Pro-Invest Group for $132 million from Greenland Australia.
Data from the Colliers Hotels Capital Markets Investment Review 2022 also shows investment in the country’s hotel market kicked up a gear in 2021,with $2.87 billion worth of assets traded across 60 deals,representing more than 7000 rooms and a 197.5 per cent increase on 2020.
Colliers head of hotels Gus Moors said the deals were well above the long-term average of $1.6 billion and it was the second highest year on record in terms of total volumes sold.
“The opportunity to invest in previously tightly held key capitals is also expected to garner significant interest as the sector recovers and Australians start to explore again,” Mr Moors said.
“It is expected that while the emergence of Omicron has dented performance in the first quarter of the year,confidence and hotel bookings should trend upwards as high vaccination rates and the roll-out of boosters underpins the market in the second half of the 2022.”