November 2, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier | As occupancies rise, it’s a good time for new properties, like Porter House Hotel Sydney, to enter the market
Data insights from hospitality software company Amadeus put hotel occupancy across Asia Pacific in Q3 just three per cent lower than 2019 levels, while forward bookings for groups are also just two to three per cent off pre-pandemic levels for Q4 and Q1 2023.
Occupancy across the region reached nearly 60 per cent between July and September 2022, which is just short of 2019 occupancies.
Singapore was faring significantly better than the average, with September occupancy at 75 per cent and room rates 13 per cent higher than 2019, along with a 10 per cent increase on RevPar compared to pre-pandemic.
Amadeus data shows leisure travel booking lead times are also returning to 2019 levels with 64 per cent of global bookings made within seven days of travel. Prior to the pandemic, this proportion of activity was 60 per cent.
For business events bookings, Australia and New Zealand in particular were singled out as solid performers for the remainder of the year, while group bookings across the region are between two and three per cent shy of 2019 levels. Lead times for groups are also lengthening again, with 1.8 million bookings already confirmed for the first half of 2023.
Corporate travel has also made a considerable comeback, reviving from a 77 per cent decrease on pre-COVID levels in January this year to being just 17 per cent down in September, indicating business travel is recovering the slowest.
Maria Taylor, head of commercial for Asia Pacific in the hospitality sector for Amadeus, said it was encouraging to see positive upward trends for the accommodation sector in the region.
“As countries start to ease restrictions, demand for travel looks set to continue to build in the forthcoming months.
“It is essential that hoteliers and destination marketers have accurate, forward-looking data insights to enable them to maximise their revenue strategies, confidently plan for larger groups and consider their distribution mix to offer a wide variety of promotions and accommodations.
“With this insight, they can also understand more about who is travelling, enabling them to deliver a truly differentiated experience.”
