A roundup of development and M&A news from around the world.
Six Senses to Maltese island. Six Sense will open a resort
on a Maltese island between Malta and Gozo in 2027. Located on the shores of
San Niklaw and San Marija bays, the Six Senses Comino with 71 low-rise suites will
feature a themed spa, farm-to-table dining, and an array of cultural, leisure,
wellness, retreat, and sporting activities. The project includes a collection
of 19 standalone retreats offering two to four bedrooms with access to all of
the resort facilities.
Kalibri’s soft 2H23 forecast. Kalibri Labs told Truist
Securities this week that its current 2023 U.S. RevPAR forecast assumes
negative y/y RevPAR in 2Q23 and flat RevPAR in 2H23 driven partly on softer
leisure demand/weaker discretionary spend. However, corporate demand is
forecasted to be stronger in 2H23 versus 1H23. Kalibri notes their RevPAR
forecasts are more conservative than some peers.
Brooklyn deal closes. UK-based Developer Quadrum Global has closed
on its $96 million acquisition of its fourth hotel in New York City, the
147-room Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, New York, after a bankruptcy
trustee selected the firm as the buyer in January. The hotel’s developer
and former owner Heritage Equity Partners placed the asset into bankruptcy in
2021 after defaulting on its 2019 loan.
Q1 US deal totals. LW Hospitality Advisors, New York
City, reported its Q1 2023 Major U.S. Hotel Sales Survey, which included 83
single asset sale transactions over $10 million, totaling nearly $3.5 billion
and including approximately 12,500 hotel rooms with an average sale price per
room of $279,000. Institutional investment platforms, many of whom are lodging
centric, dominated the Q1 2023 hotel transaction arena.
STR construction data. Each of the four world regions showed
a year-over-year decline in hotel construction activity, with Asia Pacific
coming closest to its 2022 comparable, according to March 2023 pipeline data
from STR. Comparing March 2023 to March 2022, total hotels under contract in
Europe were -13.7% (474,526 rooms). Germany (34,030) and the U.K. (29,160) lead
Europe in total rooms in construction. Asia Pacific shows a -4.4% decline with
904,935 rooms under contract. Among countries in the region, China has the most rooms under construction (299,458), followed by Vietnam (36,358). The Middle East & Africa showed a +6.4% gain over last year
with 249,150 rooms under contract. Saudi Arabia (42,033) and the United Arab
Emirates (22,324) lead in construction activity. The Americas showed a -1.2%
change versus March 2022 with 753,825 rooms under contract. The U.S. holds most
rooms under construction in the region, followed by Mexico (10,803), Canada
(5,899) and Brazil (5,549).
New USTA data. At $1.2 trillion, direct spending on travel
in the United States in 2022 was on par with pre-pandemic figures, according to
new data from the U.S. Travel Association. Travel accounted for $1.2
trillion in direct spending in 2022, which produced an economic footprint
of $2.6 trillion. In 2022, travel supported nearly 15 million
American workers—8 million directly employed by the travel industry. U.S.
Travel economists cautioned, though, that when adjusting for inflation, overall
travel spending remained down 14% in 2022.