CBRE takes stock of ANZ owners, operators

INTERNATIONAL REPORT – The top-ranking hotel owners and operators across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) have remained unchanged over the past year. But some well-established owners in the mid-ranks dropped down in the top 10 list as their competitors acquired and developed new assets, new CBRE research shows.

Data from CBRE’s first annual Australia and New Zealand Top 10 Hotel Owners & Operators report of 40 major hotel owners and operators spans close to 1,500 hotels and over 200,000 rooms – accounting for just over half the total room supply in ANZ.

CBRE’s Head of Hotels Research Ally Gibson said, “The ANZ hotels market continues to show growth and investment, driven by strong international and domestic demand. Although we have seen growth moderate, more than half of the owners and operators in both top 10 lists have expanded their portfolios in the past year, reflecting confidence in the market.”

CBRE’s Regional Director, Hotels Valuation & Advisory Troy Craig said given the subdued level of transaction volumes so far in 2024, he did not expect to see any major changes emerging in the top owners list over short-term.

When it comes to the top operators list, Craig said consistent with the longer-term trend, there is continued uplift in the proportion of hotel stock under the management and/or branding of the major operators.

“This trend has been propelled by the level of new supply over recent years combined with the proliferation of additional brands from major operators,” Craig said. “As the new supply pipeline continues to contract under the weight of feasibility challenges, due to elevated debt and construction costs, operators will inevitably turn their focus back to established assets for growth opportunities.”

Craig added that in the long-term, operators focused on, and able to demonstrate, effective cost management strategies will grow their market share in what is a challenging operational expense environment against a backdrop of slowing revenue per available room growth.

CBRE’s Top 10 List - Owners

Sydney based residential developer, Meriton, is the top ranked hotel owner in ANZ, followed by Salter Brothers, and the Schwartz Family in third.

Meriton expanded their portfolio in the past year to 23 hotels and 6,204 rooms, accounting for 17% of rooms in the top 10 owner list. Meriton is the only owner to also operate 100% of their properties, earning them the ninth position on the CBRE’s top 10 hotel operator list.

Salter Brothers also expanded their portfolio over the past year to 35 hotels and 4,921 rooms, including the launch of luxury retreat brand Ardour, and own 13% of total rooms in the Top 10 list.

The Schwartz Family is the largest private hotel specialist owner in ANZ with 15 properties and 4,300 rooms. Over the past year they acquired Leura Gardens with 92 rooms to record an expansion rate of 2.2%. They now own 12% of total rooms in the top 10.

The movement in the mid-ranks begins with EVT recording a strong expansion rate of 10% and jumping from fifth to fourth position on the list with 26 hotels and 3,577 rooms.

CapitaLand Ascott Trust was this year’s major mover, recording the highest expansion rate (12%) and jumping from seventh to fifth position on the hotel owners list with 18 hotels and 3,443 rooms. The expansion included the completion of Citadines North Sydney. Further expansion is planned for later this year with their co-living brand Lyf, adding a further 197 rooms at Bondi Junction.

Another major mover was Pro-invest which jumped from eighth to sixth position on the top 10 list, with 15 hotels and 3,196 rooms.

With their competitors expanding by a combined 21 hotels and 2,600 rooms across the year, major owners Crown dropped from fifth to seventh position, while Millennium and Copthorne moved from sixth to eighth position on the top 10 hotel owners list.

CBRE’s Top 10 List - Operators

The survey showed no major change in the top 10 hotel operators in ANZ over the past year. The top 10 operators manage a combined 37%, or 145,462 rooms, of the total room supply across ANZ (STR). A combined expansion rate of 2.8% was achieved over the year with just under 4,000 rooms, across 25 hotels, added to the mix.

Accor have held a dominant position in the hotel industry for over 20 years, managing just over 16% of total room supply across ANZ. Accor continue to expand their rooms under management via franchising and management agreements. The company manages almost half (44%) of total stock in the top 10 operators list with more than 4.5 times the number of rooms compared to the next largest operator, IHG which manage 13,305 rooms over 63 properties.

In addition to Meriton, EVT is the only other owner operator to make both top 10 lists and sit in third position on the operators top 10 list. Of the 85 accommodation properties under management by EVT, the company owns 26 (30.6%).

Ascott is the fourth ranked operator by room count in ANZ with 12,622 rooms under management across 172 properties. New openings in FY 24 included Citadines, North Sydney and Quest, Cronulla totaling 325 rooms and an expansion rate of 3%.

Marriott recorded notable growth over the past year with a 9% year-on-year expansion rate, increasing their total rooms under management by 766 over two hotels, but remain in fifth position.

Choice Hotels’ acquisition of the City Edge Apartments franchise increased their total room stock by 271 rooms. Although Choice remains in eighth position, they are only 186 rooms behind seventh placed Minor with 7,385 rooms under management.