UK: HVS has released its 2019 Hotel Transactions report, revealing that London generated a quarter of hotel transactions across the European market.
According to the report, £23.5b worth of deals were done over the past year, with the city of London alone comprising around £1.8b of that total.
The UK and Germany topped the hotel transaction volume report, helping lead to the highest recorded year of European hotel business so far. They reached numbers of 4.4b and 3.5b respectively, with Germany rising six per cent.
The two countries led in various statistics, with the UK having the most in total volume, while Germany had the highest number of rooms transacted. Much of this new business has been driven by low interest rates and yield compression making large investment attractive.
Co-author of the report Shaffer Patrick said: “Asian investors have deployed 84 per cent more capital in 2019 than in 2018, with a dominating presence from Chinese, Singaporean and South Korean investment firms and sovereign wealth funds. These factors, combined with the comparative affordability due to a weakening of the euro and sterling on account of Brexit have made Europe an even more sought-after hotel investment market.”
The market as a whole saw major growth, with 27 out of the 33 major markets growing, with the UK’s 15 per cent drop in total volume a major outlier. Insiders are, however, concerned that the this number of transactions will not be matched in 2020.
Co-author Nicolas Auer said: “New supply and the UK’s divorce from the European Union will influence transaction volume this year. Other factors such as staffing pressures, inflation risks, trade wars, coronavirus-related travel bans or cancellations and concerns that a global economic slowdown might also trigger hesitation in some investors’ minds.”
Many aspects of the UK’s tourist industry is on the rise – Expedia has reported a rise of wellness tourism, while TOPHOTELNEWS has reported 363 projects in the UK’s future pipeline.
