The long-awaited return of international travel is bringing a welcome boost to the accommodation industry in Asia Pacific with travel tech company Amadeus reporting average hotel occupancy rates of nearly 60% in the third quarter of 2022 – just 3% shy of the same period in 2019.
In September 2022, hotels in Singapore saw an occupancy average of 75%, a 13% growth in average daily rate, and a 10% increase in RevPAR compared with the same timeframe in 2019. Meanwhile, October 2022 bookings rose 2% on 2019 figures.
The latest data also shows stabilisation in booking lead times with 64% of global bookings made in the 0–7-day window versus 60% of bookings made in this timeframe in 2019, signalling increased traveller confidence.
As conferences return, group bookings are starting to grow with 1.8 million bookings already made for H1 2023. Australia and New Zealand, in particular, are reporting strong numbers for conferences in Q4.
Business travel is also experiencing a steady recovery, with APAC hotel bookings across all major global distribution systems (GDS) tripling in September compared to January 2022.
Amadeus Head of Commercial, Hospitality, Asia Pacific, Maria Taylor, said it’s encouraging to see such positive hospitality trends in the region and expects to see a continuation of this.
“As countries start to ease restrictions, demand for travel looks set to continue to build in the forthcoming months,” she said.
“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.”