2016 Q1 HRS Hotel Price Radar: Business Travel on the Rise despite Bleak Global Economic Situation

Singapore, May 27, 2016: Despite a challenging start to the year in wake of global economic uncertainty and terrorist attacks, a large majority of markets in Asia Pacific saw solid growth in room rates as compared to the same period in 2015, according to the HRS Hotel Price Radar Q1 2016 report. Similar to last year, Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore dominated the region with the highest average room rates per night. Kuala Lumpur and Beijing were the only exception to this regional trend at -9.8% and -1.2% fall in hotel rates respectively, as a result of an overall decrease in hotel occupancy. HRS is the world’s leading global end-to-end hotel solutions provider.

Of the markets studied in the region, Bengaluru, India experienced the highest increase in hotel rate development, while Sydney, Australia reported flat performance since Q1 2015.

The data also found a decline in business travel spends in Beijing, following a slowdown in the Chinese economy over the last year. The city however, is likely to show stronger development over the subsequent quarters, with a recent guideline issued by China’s central cabinet comprising of plans to build more than 500 general aviation airports by 2020. With continued investments in the country’s infrastructure initiatives, we can expect China to soon take the top spot as the number one business travel market in the region.

Average room rate for hotel stays in Asian-Pacific metropolises.

Comparison of average rates, based on non-cancelled bookings. Includes both public and corporate bookings. Period: 01.01.-31.03.2016

The HRS Hotel Price Radar looks at per-night hotel room rates and is reflective of hotel reservation needs in a market during a specific time period and consequently, the destinations where companies are channelling their corporate travel budgets. The data obtained is based on hotel bookings made by over 3,000 corporate clients – including global players from Fortune 500 companies such as Google, China Mobile, Hitachi, Huawei, Alibaba and Panasonic, via the HRS hotel portal in the first quarter of 2016.

The results and analysis further mirror the impact of the growing MICE sector in the region.

“Insights indicate that business travel in the region has stayed resilient, even though the year has so far been characterised by uncertainty for most economies, and this could be largely attributed to positive movements in the MICE industry,” commented Todd Arthur, Managing Director for HRS in Asia Pacific. “We are observing an increasing take-up of MICE opportunities, especially, with countries channelling investments towards developing it in the form of new tourism policies, increased business events, high-level dialogue sessions and overall travel infrastructure. We anticipate stronger business tourism in the upcoming quarter.”

As part of an aggressive strategy to develop the MICE industry in Thailand, for instance, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) recently announced the allocation of bigger sales and promotion budgets to the country’s Big Thanks campaign. Similarly, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) revealed the extension of its In Singapore Incentives & Rewards (INSPIRE) programme beyond China and India to reach out to the increasing number of corporate meeting and incentive travel groups from North America and Europe. These strategies are well-suited to complement longer-term goals of attracting trade, investment and global talent, and we foresee increased corporate travel budgets channelled to these countries.

Underlining HRS’ strategy to ensure the region’s position as a premiere destination for MICE travellers, the organisation announced a new partnership with MICE expert Meet ago early this year. The ‘HRS MICE’ solution is also expected to roll-out to the rest of the Asia Pacific by the end of this year.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)