The Australasian hotel outlook for 2022-2023 is positive as the return of travel brings confidence and continued market investment. TFE Hotels Director of Development, John Sutcliffe, discusses development opportunities in the current climate and shares why a tailored approach will be vital in the coming years.
As we approach a new financial year, there’s still a high level of activity in the ANZ hotel development market and, I think, TFE Hotels has never been better placed to partner with owners and developers to realise maximum value in their assets.
The 17 new hotels we opened during the pandemic – along with strategic refurbishments undertaken across several properties – has provided elevated consistency across our brands. This, in turn, has led to increased interest from current owners and capital partners, as well as new investors actively searching for sites to develop under a TFE brand.
The current climate means that not all these opportunities are new builds. For example, our Adina Hotels brand lends itself to the repositioning of assets from commercial use into a hotel. Whilst our flexibility in both design and deal structures enables TFE to continue to provide compelling propositions that are attractive to developers.
The ongoing challenges around rising construction and inflation costs are not lost on TFE and, as owners and developers ourselves, we continue to utilise the same in-house technical design team and commercial partnerships that have enabled us to develop leading hotels in key locations, such as our A by Adina in Sydney, to achieve returns that ensure developments are commercially viable for owners.
Additionally, in my role, I seek to understand and address the key challenges faced by developers from the outset so that we can align our deal structures accordingly. I believe this tailored, highly personal approach to each development will be vital over the next couple of years.
As we head into 22/23 there is a buzz of excitement around TFE, with several new hotels nearing the end of their development – including Adina Pentridge in Melbourne and Vibe Hotel Adelaide as well as some world-class developments that are just breaking ground in key gateway cities which, I believe, will further establish our ability to deliver leading hotels in key ANZ locations.
For more on the hotel development outlook for 2022-2023, check out the latest issue of HM Magazine.