Month: March 2019

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Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Accor dominating global hotel pipeline

The global pipeline for new hotels is being dominated by four groups, according to a new report by Lodging Econometrics (LE).

At the end of 2018 Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Accor accounted for over half (55 per cent) of all projects, according to the Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report, which compiles the construction pipeline counts for every country and market around the world.

Marriott International had the most pipeline projects with 2,544, followed by Hilton with 2,252, Intercontinental Hotels Group with 1,716, and Accor with 966. In terms of individual brands, IHG’s Holiday Inn Express had the most pipeline projects with 731.

Analysis shows that the total global construction pipeline hit 13,753 projects at the end of last year, up 7 per cent year-on-year.

Over 5,500 of these projects are in the US, with over 2,700 in China. The two countries between them accounted for over 60 per cent of all global projects, while the UK had a total of 266 pipeline projects (38,590 rooms).

The individual city with the most projects was New York with 171, followed by Dubai with 168, Dallas with 163, LA with 147 and Guangzhou with 132.

LE forecasts that a total of 2,844 hotels will open in 2019 (compared to 2,675 in 2018), with this figure growing to 3,088 in 2020.

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First Radisson Hotel in Europe opens its doors in Gdansk, Poland

The Radisson Hotel & Suites, Gdansk in Poland, the first new Radisson in Europe, bringing the hotel group’s portfolio to 17 hotels has opened its doors.

Located on the city’s historic Granary Island, the new-build Radisson Hotel & Suites, Gdansk features 350 guestrooms and suites, including 12 junior suites, five suites and four apartments. The hotel has a range of leisure facilities, including a lobby bar, an all-day dining restaurant, gym, spa and swimming pool. The meeting area offers 1,000sqm of space set across a ballroom, four function rooms, seven meeting rooms and a separate area that can be used as a foyer or a function space.

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Events Industry Board appoints Michael Hirst as chair

Michael Hirst has been appointed as the new chair of the Events Industry Board by tourism minister Michael Ellis, following the resignation of Nick de Bois from the role in July last year.

Hirst has served as deputy chair since the creation of the Events Industry Board in 2016. He is also chair of the Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP), the organisation that connects the leading trade and professional organisations, government agencies in the events sector. Hirst also serves on the Tourism Industry Council and is a director of the Tourism Alliance, as well as being a director and consultant to companies in the commercial and hospitality sectors.

Commenting on his appointment, Hirst said: “I am delighted to have been asked to fulfil this role. Events are being recognised across Whitehall departments as a way of stimulating the economy and showcasing our industrial, scientific and educational excellence. I very much look forward to working with industry colleagues and DCMS and DIT officials to develop the role of the board and ensure that events play their full part in growing the economy and the profile of Britain”.

Michael Ellis, minister for arts, heritage and tourism, said: “Michael has a wealth of experience in the business tourism sector, so I am delighted that he has agreed to chair the Events Industry Board. I look forward to the board continuing to providing invaluable advice to government on how we can further support this important industry.”

Nick de Bois stepped down as EIB chair in July last year when he accepted the role of chief of staff to the then newly-appointed Brexit secretary Dominic Raab in the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU). He left the role when Raab quit after 129 days in office.

The Events Industry Board’s role is to advise ministers on improving the competitiveness of the UK in order to secure a greater number of high quality international events. Its aims are to deliver growth through the economic impact generated by business events and visitor spend, whilst increasing opportunities for exports and investment for UK businesses. In addition, the use of business events, as part of the Tourism Sector Bid within the industrial strategy, aims to increase year round productivity, enhance regional prosperity and to provide a sense of place for local communities.

The board has created a comprehensive work programme, with a new action plan currently being implemented. It has established working groups on Infrastructure and Talent and there are plans for further industry roundtables with sector interests across the industry.

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First voco property for the Netherlands

IHG have announced the signing of the first voco hotel in the Netherlands, voco – Kneuterdijk 8 will be set in a beautiful building located in the city centre of the Hague that formerly housed a bank and is set to open in 2020.

The signing of voco the Hague – Kneuterdijk 8 follows the recent openings of the first three voco hotels in the world — voco Gold Coast in Australia, voco Cardiff and voco Solihull in the UK – and continuing the strong momentum for IHG’s newest upscale brand in Europe.

With a listed façade dating from the 1920s and an expansive atrium, the property boasts historic features that will be retained and very carefully renovated. Inside, the hotel will be no less awe-inspiring – containing more than 200 exquisite rooms and suites.

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Edwardian Hotels London first hotel group to enter EDGE Venues 100% club

Edwardian Hotels London is the first group of hotels to maximise their exposure to users of EDGE Venues, the new global venue sourcing solution for agents, corporates and associations.

By completing 100% of the data fields within the profiles of all its hotels, Edwardian has enhanced its positioning in venue searches for its 11 Radisson Blu Edwardian, Hotels in London and Manchester and its luxury May Fair Hotel in the heart of central London. This helps improve its opportunities to confirm business because EDGE Venues users can select multiple venues and compare their suitability for each event.

Jacqui Kavanagh, Managing Director of Trinity Event Solutions and EDGE Venues said: “Every event is different and that’s why we’ve built EDGE to have such a flexible search functionality. Users can compare the USPs and benefits of multiple venues in a single screen, to see which ones would work best for their event. The more information venues complete, the more likely they are to be matched for business they can support. Edwardian has recognised the strength of the search for driving conference, meetings and events business, and are taking full advantage of it.”

Kirsten Ariano, Account Director, Edwardian Hotels London had this to say about the digital platform: “It’s refreshing to work with a team which is dedicated to making sure we maximise our potential. We’ve worked with Trinity Event Solutions for many years, and they understand how the industry works and how, using technology, booking meetings can be made simpler. As soon as Trinity launched EDGE Venues, we knew the benefits it would bring and have been working with our properties to achieve a group place in the ‘100% Club’.”

Many independent venues have closely followed Edwardian Hotels with 100% profile completion, putting themselves in the running with big brands for meetings and events business.

Jacqui continues: “The feedback we’ve had in the first three months of EDGE Venues has been fantastic and we’re seeing more and more hotels push to get their data profile to 100%. To get a group of hotels on board such as the 12 Edwardian properties is a credit to the technology and usability of the booking platform. We’ve worked with key stakeholders within the industry to develop this technology and thrilled with its success even at this early stage.”

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Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel opens in Edinburgh

IHG  has opened the first Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in Scotland, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel. The hotel is located in Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town, a UNESCO world heritage site and has 184 rooms and 15 suites which are part of seven interconnecting Georgian townhouses.

Last year IHG and Covivio entered an agreement to rebrand and operate 12 hotels operating under the Principal and De Vere brands. The Principal Charlotte Square is the second of these properties to rebrand as a Kimpton, following the opening of Kimpton Fitzroy London in October 2018. 

The Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel marks IHG’s return to the luxury market in Edinburgh, as its first branded luxury hotel in Scotland in over a decade. 2019 will also see Kimpton hotel openings in Glasgow and Manchester and an InterContinental Hotels & Resorts opening in Edinburgh.

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‘Unprecedented’ growth boosts UK hotel investment to £7.4b

Investment in the UK hotels industry hit £7.4b in 2018, a £1.7b increase year-on-year, a rise of 29% and 102% above the 12-year average.

That is according to the latest research by global property adviser Knight Frank. The “unprecedented” growth in 2018 was due to a 50% increase in international investment, with overseas buyers responsible for £4.9b invested into the UK hotel market. There was a 50-50 split of the capital invested between London and the UK regions.

UK investors were responsible for a third of the investment (£2.5b), European investors 27% (£2b) with £1.6b from France. Inbound capital from the US increased by 77% to £1.5b (21%), due to significant institutional interest.

London continues to remain an attractive target with total investment climbing to £3.3b. The acquisition of hotel sites and the forward funding of hotel projects equated to 21% of the total investment. The interest from international investment was the leading driver of the capital’s hotel market, accounting for £2.4b of total investment.

Outside of London, Edinburgh was ranked the most attractive regional UK city for hotel investment, accounting for transactions totalling around £525m with a 13% share of the UK regional investment market.

A new trend that emerged in 2018 was the increase in activity from local authorities, capitalising on low-interest central government loans to purchase commercial property. In 2018, local councils invested a record £93m in the hotel sector, an increase of 182% on 2017 (£33m).

Shaun Roy, head of hotels at Knight Frank, said: “With rising interest rates and prolonged Brexit negotiations, there is a strong demand for secure, long-term fixed income assets which has led to an increase in investment in hotels.

“The capital continues to remain an attractive destination for global and domestic investors, with opportunistic hotel investors stimulated by the attractive levels of growth prospects in London over the long-term.

“Furthermore, the proportion of capital allocated to specialist property is evident from the growing trend for the inclusion of hotel real estate in institutional funds. There is now a much greater understanding of the fundamentals of hotels as a specialist sector, which has led to over £1.1b invested in hotel development and forward funding for future hotel projects.

“We envisage further inbound investment, should sterling weaken further following the UK’s exit from the EU. Overseas capital flows and institutional investment is expected to remain buoyant as greater strategic importance is placed on investing in alternative specialist sector businesses

“Thus far, the pace of investment in 2019 has been strong, with London in the alluring position of being the world’s most liquid and transparent real estate market, cementing its reputation as a safe haven for international capital.”

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RBH’s New Partnership

Together with 4C Hotel Group RBH has signed a hotel management agreement on the Canopy by Hilton London City and Westin London City hotels, representing the launch of both brands into the UK by late 2020. RBH now holds partnerships with both Hilton and Marriott, making RBH, Marriott’s largest franchise partner in the UK. 

Westin London City will have a prime location on the River Thames, with 222 bedrooms, a riverside bar, indoor swimming pool, spa, fitness studio, ballroom, four meeting rooms and a business centre.

Canopy by Hilton London City will be located adjacent to Aldgate Station, with 342 bedrooms, a unique lobby to mirror aspects of the locality and a rooftop bar with unrivalled views across the city of London.

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Edinburgh remains top UK location for hotel investment

Edinburgh is still the top location for hotel investment in the UK, with Belfast second and Liverpool third, thanks to strong performance and low building costs.

The Colliers International UK Hotels Market Index said that Edinburgh had consistently strong occupancy and average daily room rate levels in 2018, while revenue per available room (revpar) had grown for the past four years.

The UK Hotels Market Index analyses 34 locations across the UK. London remains the strongest performer in terms of revpar, but only places sixth due to the high cost of land.

Plymouth and Oxford had been strong performers in the past, but have since fallen out of the top 10. Oxford recorded strong revpar levels in 2018, but has dropped due to high land costs, while Plymouth saw a decline in revpar last year.

Marc Finney, head of hotels and resorts consulting at Colliers International, said: “Overall, the UK hotel sector is in rude health. Operating performance is holding up well in most UK markets and London continues to perform well.

“The UK hotel market adds about 10,000 new rooms each year and this has increased in pace recently, with almost 18,000 new rooms expected to open in 2019. This leaves hotels as a rare bright spot in a property market that is facing challenges in other sectors.”

The top 10 UK spots for hotel investment and development are:
1 Edinburgh
2 Belfast
3 Liverpool
4 Chester
5 Bath
6 London
7 Glasgow
8 Brighton
9 Cambridge
10 Leeds.

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Midscale lifestyle brand,Tribe, launched by Accor

French hotel group Accor has launched a new midscale, lifestyle brand called Tribe.

The first Tribe hotel has already opened in Perth, Australia, with the first European hotel – a 290-bedroom property – set to launch in Glasgow later this year. A further 50 hotels are currently in discussions with Accor to adopt the brand.

It is expected that the Tribe brand will make an appearance worldwide, including in locations such as London, Paris, Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok. 

Tribe is the 39th brand within the Accor portfolio which totals nearly 4,800 hotels and resorts across 100 countries.