Paris, July 26, 2007 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Three of the world's leading hotel groups, InterContinental Hotels Group, Hilton Hotels Corporation and Accor(1), will be exhibiting at the upcoming MIPIM Asia, the world property market for the Asia Pacific, to be held in Hong Kong from the 28th to 30th November 2007.
As the region experiences dazzling growth in tourism, the presence of these hotel giants goes without saying in a tradeshow where they can meet the region's major developers as well as major international investors. To name but a few, developers such as AOS from China, K. Raheja Universal PVT Ltd from India and IMO Development Ltd from Vietnam, and investors such as Lehman Brothers, Eurohypo AG and The Carlyle Group are already registered for MIPIM Asia 2007.
For the first four months of 2007, market analyses for the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)(2) position Asia Pacific as the region with the world's highest growth in tourist entries. With a rise of 9% compared to a world average of 6%, it is still the second most favoured destination in the world after Europe.
China has confirmed its ranking as fourth in the most favoured destinations after France, Spain and the United States. With growth of nearly 10% in numbers of entries for the same period, China should, according to UNWTO forecasts overtake the United States in 2008 to take the lead in 2020. For the same period, several other Asia Pacific countries also show double digit growth in terms of the numbers of entries: Macao (China, +21%), Indonesia (+14%), Vietnam (+12,5%), India (+12%), Japan (+11%), and Malaysia (+10%)(3).
In such a context, it is hardly surprising that Asia posted for 2006 the highest growth in the world for its hotel base (+10.5% or some 60,000 extra rooms). Penetration rates for hotel chains in the region however only attain 15% today, so it is easy to imagine the potential these countries offer the hotel giants. Given this growth in tourism, China and India, with populations of 1.6 and 1.13 billion respectively, are the priority targets today.
For the three hotel groups exhibiting at MIPIM Asia, the figures speak for themselves. InterContinental Hotels Group is currently the leading international hotel group in China. IHG currently has 66 hotels in the country and intends to double this figure by 2008 and employ 43,000 people. Accor today runs 44 hotels in China and plans to reach similar targets as it rival with around 125 hotels by 2008. More generally, Accor has just celebrated the opening of its 300th hotel in Asia Pacific and in 2006 its hotel network in the region grew by 21%, mainly in China, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia. China and India are also priority geographies for the group in future. India is also a key country for Hilton Hotels Corp., which plans to run 50 to 75 hotels in three to five years, via a partnership with DLF, India's largest developer(4).
With this sort of expansion policy in Asia Pacific countries, the hotel groups are naturally building financial and real estate partnerships. For example, Hilton Corp. is working in China with Deutsche Asset Management and HQ Asia Pacific while Accor is partnering EMAAR Properties and InterGlobe in India.
MIPIM Asia will bring together 3,000 professionals from the Asia Pacific region including investors, developers and architects, offering these large hotel groups a splendid opportunity to meet, discuss and do business and further boost their positioning in the region.
For more information on MIPIM Asia: http://www.mipimasia.com
Contact
Press Office in Paris:
My-Lan CAO
mylan.cao@reedmidem.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 90 45 43
Mélanie AIGLE
melanie.aigle@reedmidem.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 90 49 95
Fax: +33 (0)1 41 90 67 24
Belinda CHAN in Hong Kong
Tel: +852 23 720 090
belinda@creativegp.com
www.reedmidem.com
| ||
|
