Hospitality M&A deals to exceed $ 800 million in 2020: HVS

Hospitality consultancy firm HVS expects mergers and acquisitions in the hospitality space to exceed $ 800 million in 2020, besides a revenue per available room growth in the range of 4.7%-5.4%.

HVS India Hospitality Industry Overview 2019, the company states the hospitality sector witnessed an over 31% growth in brand signings during the year with approximately 171 new hotels entering the branded hotel market and an additional 53 being rebranded.

“2019 was a remarkable year for hotel transactions which witnessed transactions worth Rs 4937 crore compared to just over Rs 535 crore in the previous year

HVS expects the first half of 2020 to be relatively muted, led by the Coronavirus impact on the global markets and ongoing economic headwinds that are expected to last until March 2020.

As per the HVS report, the India wide revenue per available room grew by just over 4% in 2019. The 2019 revenue per available room at Rs 3967 is still lagging the peak by 27.8%.

Average rates grew by approximately 2.9% in 2019 while the occupancy rate was 66.2% in 2019 vis a vis 65.4% in 2018.

HVS stated that domestic brands with their aggressive growth strategies have overtaken international brands in terms of brand signings for 2019. Though, they continue to sign smaller format hotels with average keys for domestic brand signings being almost half of their international peers.

As per the HVS report, IHCL, The Fern Hotels & Resorts, Clarks Inn, Intellistay Hotels and Marriott International were the top five operators in 2019 in terms of brand signings by properties.

Goa and Bengaluru remained the top markets for brand signings. Increasing supply poses a concern for the Goa hotel market performance in the near future, as per the report.

Hope amidst crisis, Marriott to reopen the closed properties in China

Marriott is the world’s largest hotel operator with 800 properties in the Asia Pacific region and roughly half in Greater China. 

 Marriott had 375 properties, with roughly 122,000 rooms, across Greater China at the end of 2019, representing 9% of its total global rooms.

About 90 properties closed in China due to the global spread of coronavirus but are already seeing positive signs of a return to normal

Marriott began to see the impact of the coronavirus on business in mid-January with occupancy declines gradually, spreading from Wuhan to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

In February, RevPAR in Greater China declined almost 90%, versus the same period last year and in the Asia-Pacific region outside Greater China, it declined roughly 25%, year-over-year.

Marriott Hotels To Eliminate Plastic Straws By July 2019

Marriott International Inc plans to remove disposable plastic straws and stirrers from its 6,500 hotels and resorts worldwide by July 2019.

The Maryland-based company, which said it could eliminate 1 billion straws and a quarter of a billion stirrers a year, said it would provide alternatives, for example paper straws, to customers upon request.

“Removing plastic straws is one of the simplest ways our guests can contribute to plastic reduction when staying with us – something they are increasingly concerned about and are already doing in their own homes,” Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, said in a statement.

Marriott launches Tahseen hospitality training in Egypt

MARRIOTT International, the world’s leading hotel company, reinforces its commitment to Egypt with the launch of Tahseen, a unique hospitality training program developed in response to a growing need for talent within the industry. Created in partnership with Helwan University and Professional Development Foundation (PDF), the program is focused on fast tracking the next generation of hospitality leaders from Egypt by providing them with firsthand experience and a springboard to launch successful careers in the industry. The company today unveiled the program at a signing ceremony graced by the Honorable Minister His Excellency Khalid Atef Abdul Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Egypt.