ANZPHIC conference Sydney July 2011

L&A had the opportunity to attend the ANZPHIC conference in Sydney on 18th and 19th July 2011. This meeting was a gathering for the hospitality industry, attracting attendees from all over Asia. The session began with sharing of statistics on pipeline projects in the region. Shanghai is expecting huge growth, Hong Kong looking better than previous years and Beijing also looking promising.

There are over 440,000 hotel rooms in the pipeline in the Asia Pacific region over the next 3 years. China leads the way with 56% of the new supply, followed by India with 22% of the new supply and then Thailand 5%, Indonesia 4% and Vietnam 4%.

Hotel in the pipeline projects over the next three years in the Asia Pacific region

 

	Hotels	Rooms	2011	2012	2013
China	1182	323,000	89,000	92,000	142,000
India	456	80,000	14,000	18,000	48,000
Vietnam	63	17,900	2500	4100	11,300
Thailand	73	14,000	3300	3000	7700
Indonesia	61	10,400	1800	1600	7000
Australia	13	2200	200	800	1200
Totals – 3 years	1848	447,500	110,800	119,500	217,200

 

Australia is not looking so bright, for the first time ever, outbound numbers from Australia exceeded inbound and this will go up from 6,000,000 outbound to 8,000,000 over the next 2 years. New Zealand is the biggest inbound country with 4%, this is a growth of 25% over the last year. China is up by 6%, India is also an interesting inbound market with links to education.

With the increase in Chinese visitors to Australia by 6% in 2010, the question needs to be asked “What drives the Chinese tourist?” After many surveys and studies, it was found “the experience” is considered most important. Taking photos on holiday rated highly, especially of Aussie icons and landmarks. They also rated nature and wild life is an important part of the Aussie experience. Culinary experiences are also important as status counts for Chinese who are driven by ambition, in particular eating seafood is very significant. It was interesting to note that half the travel budget for incoming Chinese travellers was spent on shopping. The philosophy still seems to be “sleep cheap, shop expensive”. China itself is booming with two thirds of internet access being via mobiles. The recent boom highlights recent statistics such as over 80% of consumers in China have made their first luxury purchase in the last seven years.

The presentation on the Ayers Rock Resort was insightful, Ray Stone talked about the Sails of the Desert and an other section of the Resort which is now 100% owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation. There are ambitious plans to set up a national Indigenous Training Academy with 500 trainees graduating over the next five years. The hope is that by 2018, 50% of the 700 employees will be indigenous.

On day two presentations were made on new lifestyle hotels such as Indigo Hotels part of the Carlson group and Andaz, the Hyatt brand reflecting personal style. These hotels allow guests to tailor their own experience incorporating affordable style and design with a strong neighbourhood story. Hypo allergenic rooms are also becoming popular in this type of hotel

The serviced apartment industry was highlighted in the second part of day two. They play an important role in industry with 24% of all rooms in Australia coming from the serviced apartment sector. 46% of serviced apartments are independently run, with 19% by Mantra, 10% held by Quest, and 9% by the Oakes Group. Interestingly, departmental profit in Australia average for hotels is 66.9% with serviced apartments running at 71.7%.

The Oakes Group has just been purchased by Anantara based in Thailand. This company has 15 properties in 8 countries.  Mr Dilip the CEO of the Minor hotel group explained the goal is to grow the Oakes group from a current 4000 keys to 6000 keys. Anantara owns prestigious properties such as Bangkok Marriott, Four Seasons Thailand and St Regis Bangkok as well as Anantara Cruises and Mandara Spas to name a few.

Dr Jerry Schwarz the new owner and CEO of the Fairmont Hunter Valley property explained the acquisition process of this property for $26 million. He talked about the current challenges of renovating and restoring the property to its former glory with an experienced manager, Mr. Heinz Colby ex Lilianfels and Hydro Majestic at the helm.