Luxury Hotels Continued Their Global Recovery in 2022
Asia Lags Other Parts of the World, but Recent Reopening Should Spur Growth
Luxury hotels around the world continued their recovery in 2022 and more good news is on the horizon. High-end hotels in the Americas and the Middle East and Africa region, or MEA, nearly matched their demand numbers from three years ago. Demand for European luxury-class hotels was only off 12% from its 2019 high level. And now that China and Japan have ended their long pandemic shutdowns, this should spur intra-Asia travel as well as some additional international inbound demand.
High-end hotels and resorts around the world have benefitted from sustained demand from leisure travelers and luxury and incentive groups. The missing piece is still the return of corporate transient demand, which is influenced by large corporations and their travel spending. This is partially due to the more efficient ways of communicating and meeting online, and partially because of a looming recession that puts a damper on travel expenses and also, especially in Europe, a stronger focus on limiting travel-related carbon emissions. These forces will likely impact the high-end corporate demand in 2023 as well.
