Resilience & Revival: EMEA Hotels in a World of Contrasts - Whitebridge H1 2023 Report
This funny old world had more shocks for us in H1 2023. Inflation reached new peaks and interest rates followed in its wake. Uncertainties in relation to the situation in Ukraine and the ripples therefrom remain. Today, financing a deal is proving challenging and such headwinds mean transaction volumes have slowed dramatically. And yet, hotel performance levels are shooting out the lights in many markets, proving that international travel is...
This funny old world had more shocks for us in H1 2023. Inflation reached new peaks and interest rates followed in its wake. Uncertainties in relation to the situation in Ukraine and the ripples therefrom remain. Today, financing a deal is proving challenging and such headwinds mean transaction volumes have slowed dramatically. And yet, hotel performance levels are shooting out the lights in many markets, proving that international travel is resilient and people are determined to go and have fun. Long may this continue and performance levels grow.
Every market benefited from RevPAR growth, with the sole exception of Doha (-1.7%). The star in RevPAR was Cairo (+109.1%), driven by huge growth in ADR (over +103%). The GOPPAR star was Muscat (+262%), despite relatively modest growth in RevPAR (+28.6%), indicating local managers have had huge success in adjusting operating costs to our new high cost world.
There may be signs of construction cost inflation easing, particularly in Europe, but the Giga-projects in Saudi Arabia are keeping such costs ticking upwards in the Middle East. Spain and the UK battled the headwinds and were by far the busiest markets in transaction terms, with multiple big and small deals taking place. The geographic spread of deals was one of the most extensive in recent years, with a good number across both CEE and Scandinavia regions. International travel is resilient and people are determined to go and have fun.
With grateful thanks to our friends at RLB for their contribution to this Monitor’s back page feature. It provides an early warning to all hoteliers with regard to their ESG obligations in the not so distant future. Naturally RLB is ready and available to chat through any concerns and possible solutions along your pathway.
Philip Camble
Director, Whitebridge Hospitality
Editor, EMEA Hotels Monitor