The swift comeback of visitors to Japan has led to a surge in room rates, according to reports. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/torsakarin
As China’s borders reopened a month ago and cross-border gatherings
continue to pick up pace, the number of business journeys and meetings
abroad will continue to increase.
The boom in travel is likely to push up the price of hotel rooms –
more travellers mean greater demand for rooms, which hotels may struggle
to meet due to staff shortages, resulting in limited inventory at
higher prices.
In Japan for instance, last December, the average price of a hotel
room was 17,127 yen (US$131), according to figures from hotel market
data company STR. The figure was 10.8% higher than that recorded in
November. Meanwhile, STR insights show that Melbourne hotels recorded
their highest monthly average daily rate (ADR) on record in December.
And according to Singapore Tourism Board data, the average room rate
(ARR) of hotels in the destination picked up pace in December 2022 after
a marginal fall in November, resulting in a new 14-year high. ARR
increased by 27.7% from this time last year, to S$286.
Additional research from STR says that Indonesia and Singapore led
the way in terms of recovery of revenue per available room (RevPAR), in
many ways down to occupancy recovery outpacing the rest of the region.
It said that new supply – with Singapore expected to open several new
hotels this year – will help to ‘slightly temper rates’.
Surveys on the cost of living can also be a good indicator of where
budgets are likely to stretch the furthest. A recent EIU survey - the
Worldwide Cost of Living, released at the end of November, highlighted
the diverse costs associated with the APAC region, showing how it has
some of the most expensive – and cheapest cities in the world.
Singapore and Hong Kong tied for first and fourth place respectively,
alongside New York and Los Angeles, while Colombo in Sri Lanka and
Bangalore in India are ranked as some of the cheapest cities, both
ranked at 161 in the survey.
A separate Cost of Living City Ranking, produced in June 2022 by
Mercer, was topped by Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, Tokyo and
Beijing at 8th, 9th and 10th place respectively. Other Asian
destinations to feature in the top 20 included Shanghai at 12th spot,
followed by Shenzhen (13th), Seoul (14th) and Guangzhou (18th).