LONDON, UK – Hospitality Insights, the industry’s trusted investment and development news platform from Questex, has released the Q4 2021 results of the quarterly Investor Sentiment Assessment in collaboration with ABP Invest. Hospitality Insights provides deal-makers with the latest information on trends and opportunities and is the official news arm of top global hospitality conferences, including; The Annual Hotel Conference, The International Hospitality Investment Forum and The Resort & Residential Hospitality Forum.

Investors tempered their optimism for the hospitality sector during the last quarter of 2021, according to the latest research conducted by Hospitality Insights and ABP Invest.

The move coincided with the arrival of the Omicron Covid-19 variant as well as renewed inflationary pressures. The proportion of investors expressing a strongly positive sentiment for the next 12 months has continued to reduce from 36% in Q2’21 to 19% in Q3’21 and 11% in Q4’21. There’s still plenty of optimism in the sector, it’s just come off highs of earlier in the year.

The median amount of dry powder within hospitality capital has continued to rise over the quarters, and is currently at 40% - the highest since the assessment began nearly two years ago.

Hotels are the most favoured asset class, maintaining the number one position for the fifth consecutive quarter as the best investment opportunity over the next 12 months, followed by Serviced Apartments and Extended Stay who also remain firm in second and third place. Senior Living, Co-Working and Hostels are expected to provide the least attractive opportunities.

Attitudes have shifted somewhat when asked to consider the most attractive cities for hotel investment. The response was once again unanimous with London coming out on top however Paris ousted Barcelona from its number two position, with newcomer Amsterdam, which hasn’t featured in the top three since Q2’20, rounding off the top three European cities.

Commenting on some of the major trends in the report Thanos Papasavvas, founder and chief investment officer, ABP Invest, said: “Over three quarter of Institutional Investors, PE firms and private property companies expect economic conditions to improve in the ensuing 12 months with two thirds of investors preferring the higher risk/return segments of value-add and opportunistic; the highest ratio since the inauguration of this quarterly assessment in March 2020. Furthermore, at a more idiosyncratic level, family offices have shifted their top preference away from hotels towards serviced apartments as the most attractive segment for 2022.”

The topic of inflation is likely weighing heavily on investors’ minds and Papasavvas believes it is here to stay.

“In line with the report we put together last summer, we see inflation being sticky and remaining elevated as opposed to the Federal Reserve’s initial outlook of ‘transitory’ before having readjusted its rhetoric and inflation expectations,” he said.

The assessment is only open to a select group of investors that actively attend the Questex portfolio of hospitality events and provide a healthy representation of the entire hospitality investment ecosystem; including institutional investors, private property owners, family offices, private equity and high net worth individuals. As the investor pool grows, Questex will be opening submissions to vetted investors who wish to participate and in turn, have the opportunity to debrief with fellow contributors on the findings. Those interested can complete this brief form here.

About the Hospitality Insights Investor Sentiment Assessment

The assessment was launched at the start of the pandemic to monitor buyer and seller sentiment, during a time where tracking investors’ appetites became more crucial than ever. The data captures the overall proportions of dry powder in hospitality, interest and allocation in various investment segments, regions, and asset classes, yield expectations, potential threats, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies.

The Q1 2022 assessment will open in February. Sign up for Hospitality Insights’ newsletters here to stay up to date and follow the company page on LinkedIn here.

About Questex

Questex Hospitality Group, a division of Questex LLC, represents a senior audience of $650 billion in hotel assets, reaching one in two hotel owners and operators across the globe. With a portfolio of both media and live events, including Hospitality Investor, Annual Hotel Conference (AHC), International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF), and Resort & Residential Hospitality Forum (R&R), Questex Hospitality Group brings together leaders in hospitality investment, development and operations to make the deals that shape recovery and growth in the sector.

Leah Braithwaite
Marketing Director
+44 (0)203 318 8340
Questex

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