• Continued rebound in international visitation across Asia Pacific.
• New hotels opened in Q2 2024 are mostly located in Southeast Asian markets.
• Weak local currencies impacting the recovery in trading performance.

In Asia Pacific, international tourism continues to improve across all markets, surpassing H1 2023 figures. This growth is attributed to increased airlift, various visa facilitation schemes, destination promotions, and the gradual revival of corporate, MICE, and event industries. Although foreign visitation in most of the destinations still lagged behind pre-pandemic levels, Bangkok outperformed, surpassing international visitor numbers from 2019.

Southeast Asian markets, including Bangkok, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur, recorded a notable increase in new hotel supply during the first half of the year. On the other hand, Shanghai mainly saw a surge in newly rebranded projects, while other destinations in Asia Pacific witnessed limited hotel openings in Q2 2024. However, it is anticipated that the second half of 2024 will bring a higher number of hotel openings across the region, potentially exerting pressure on existing hotels.

During the first half of 2024, the average RevPAR in Asia Pacific was still below pre-pandemic levels. The recovery was stronger in Q1 2024, even amid an influx of tourists in Q2, both domestic and international. The slowdown in growth Y-o-Y can be largely attributed to weaker local currencies compared to the USD. However, major destinations in the region have continued to observe increased RevPAR as of YTD June 2024, driven by higher occupancy and relatively stable ADR Y-o-Y.

Outlook
The second half of 2024 is likely to see continued growth in international tourist arrivals, although a higher level of recovery in Chinese outbound tourism would be welcome in the sector. Markets which were early to open up and recover their trading like Singapore are seeing a tapering in RevPAR growth, China is seeing a drop in trading, whilst markets like Japan are continuing to see strong increases in ADR in particular. 2024 is due to see one of the highest levels of new supply since 2018 and this could put pressure on markets like Bangkok, Hong Kong and Shanghai.