Tag: international tourists

Savills & HomeAway: 60% of Second Homes are Bought to Let

17 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Buying a second home with the objective of putting it up for rent. Currently, that is the main reason why more than 60% of owners around the world acquire an asset of that kind, according to a study prepared by Savills and HomeAwayTM.

“In a low-interest rate environment, investors look for assets that generate income”, says Paul Tostevin, associate director at Savills and the person responsible for the report. The situation has changed in recent years, given that, for example, at the beginning of the 2000s, only 14% of second homes were purchased with the objective of letting them and not for personal use. During the credit crisis, that figure increased to 19%.

The average purchase price of a second home in the Spanish market was €245,000 in 2017. Nowadays, almost 40% of owners obtain profits from their properties and approximately 30% partially cover the expenses associated with the asset.

In terms of the location of the asset, less than 5% of the second homes owned by Spaniards are located overseas. The main regions where they do own second homes in Spain include the Canary Islands (12%), the Costa del Sol (9%) and the Balearic Islands (9%). The increase in the arrival of international tourists in recent times has caused the owners of these homes to lease them more frequently to be able to obtain income.

In terms of the rest of Europe, the study reveals that Brits purchase the most second homes outside of their own country. Only 24% of their properties are located within the United Kingdom, 19% are located in France and 16% in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Chinese Group Gaw Capital Joins Forces with Alicia Koplowitz to Target Hotel Sector

25 July 2018 – Expansión

The Chinese fund manager Gaw Capital Partners is making its debut in the Spanish hotel sector hand in hand with Omega Capital, the family office owned by Alicia Koplowitz. Specifically, the investment firm specialising in real estate assets has purchased 50% of the Hospes Hotel Group, worth €125 million, and has created a joint venture together with Omega Capital – with which it will share the ownership – for the development and expansion of the Spanish chain.

Before the entry of Gaw Capital Partners, the hotel chain was owned in equal parts by Fonsagrada – a company owned by the Koplowitz family -; the Areyhold group, owned by the Yera family; and Telescom, owned by the Hernández López family.

Hospes, founded in 2010, owns nine boutique hotels located in Alicante, Cáceres, Córdoba, Granada, Madrid, Mallorca, Salamanca, Sevilla and Valencia. The company’s establishments, which are all four- and five-star properties, are located in unique buildings that are rich with historical and architectural heritage.

According to the results for 2016 (the latest available in the Mercantile Registry), the chain generated an operating profit of €10.5 million, up by 18% compared to the previous year, and sales of €30 million.

Growth in Europe

The purchase of 50% of Hospes by the Chinese fund has been carried out through the fund European Hospitality Fund I, managed by GCP Hospitality, its hotel division.

GCP Hospitality, founded by the shareholders of Gaw Capital Partners and by Christophe Vielle in 2008, currently manages 39 assets (hotels, apartments and university campuses) and 7,450 rooms around the world.

GCP Hospitality, led by Vielle, has regional offices in Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing (China), Hong Kong (China), Perth (Australia), San Francisco (USA), Singapore and Rangoon (Myanmar).

Vielle, CEO of GCP Hospitality Management, explains to Expansión that, with the good outlook for the European tourism industry, the company is “actively” studying ways of expanding its portfolio across the Old Continent.

“We will take advantage of the reputation of the Hospes Hotel Group and our international network to raise the profile of the brand”, says the CEO GCP Hospitality Management.

In this sense, the evolution of the Spanish tourism sector in recent years has been spectacular. Spain recorded a new milestone last year with the arrival of 82 million international tourists and has also registered eight consecutive years of growth in terms of tourism GDP. For Vielle, the acquisition of Hospes Hotel Group is an example of the “solid track record” of GCP Hospitality in the launch and management of successful hotels and first-rate brands.

Since its creation in 2005, Gaw Capital Partners has raised almost USD 10 billion (€8.557 billion) and currently has USD 18 billion (€15.403 billion) in assets under management. The fund manager, which is investing in different segments of the real estate market, has a significant presence in the Asia Pacific region and in the USA.

Promoting the brand

Meanwhile, the alliance with the Chinese investment fund manager allows Omega Capital to boost its investments in the tourism sector.

Hospes is not the only firm that Koplowitz is backing in the hotel sector through her family office. Specifically, Omega Capital, together with the Orient Express group (now Belmond) purchased the Madrilenian Hotel Ritz for €125 million in 2003. More than a decade later, in 2015, Omega Capital and Belmond sold that iconic hotel to a consortium formed by the Olayan family, from Saudi Arabia, and the Mandarin group, which manages the establishment, for €132 million. The property is currently closed for refurbishment.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Overnight Hotel Stays Reached 46.4M In August

26 September 2016 – Expansión

Overnight stays rose by 3.8% and revenues increased by almost 9% in August 2016, boosted by visits from overseas tourists. Nevertheless, domestic demand only increased in Cataluña.

Although the summer season does not officially end until October, Spain’s hotels can already say with some satisfaction that the summer of 2016 has been one of the best of their lives. The average occupancy rate reached 79% in August, the best figure since analysis of this data first began back in 1999, according to a report published on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

In the eighth month of the year alone, 46.4 million overnight hotels stays were recorded, up by 3.8% compared with August last year, thanks to a 6.3% increase in stays by foreign tourists; overnight stays by Spanish tourists decreased by 0.3% YoY.

But it was not only a quantitative increase, given that establishments also increased their revenues. They obtained €79.57 for each available room, compared with €73.10 in August 2015. The Hotel Price Index (IPH) carried a lot of weight in that YoY increase of 8.8%. The IPH is prepared on the basis of prices that businessmen in the sector receive from all of their clients: households, companies, tour operators and travel agents. The IPH stood at 6.9% in August, which represents 1.9 points more than a year ago.

Over the last twelve months, revenues have increased by 5.2% on average, with the most acute increases being observed for three-star (9.01% YoY in August) and four-star accommodation (6.97%).

INE’s information reveals that overnight stays in July and August grew by 5.4% compared with the same two month period in 2015, thanks both to record levels of international tourists (9.6 million visited in July, up by 9.3%) as well as the gradual recovery of domestic demand. In this aggregated period, overnight stays by foreigners and Spaniards rose by 7.2% and 2.4%, respectively (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Yago González)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotel Revenues Rise & Profitability Soars

16 August 2016 – Expansión

Meliá, Barceló and Grupo Palladium are registering occupancy rates of almost 90% in some of their star destinations and are also achieving double-digit growth rates in terms of tariffs.

The hotel chains are on a roll, with an improvement in sales, occupancy rates and prices this year, and they are getting ready to benefit from the good times that the tourist sector is enjoying to boost their profitability as well. In 2015, Spain broke its record once again in terms of the number of international tourists, with 68 million visits; and all indications show that this year the figure could reach 70 million. (…).

Specifically, Meliá, in line with the data disclosed in its results, forecasts an occupancy rate of almost 80% in Andalucía, where it also expects to see an 11% increase in prices. For the Levante region, the group expects an occupancy rate of 75% and a 10% increase in prices, whilst in Ibiza, it forecasts a 26% increase in occupancy rates and an almost 50% upturn in the average price – due to the repositioning of its hotels on the island. For the Canary Islands, the hotel chain owned by the Escarrer family estimates an occupancy rate of 80% and a price rise of 13%.

This archipelago is also proving fruitful for Barceló. The company expects to close the month of August with full occupancy and a historically high profitability. During the first few weeks of August, the occupancy rate on the islands averaged 90% and average room rates had increased by 12 points.

In the Balearic Islands, the occupancy rates for July and August are in line with last year, but average prices per room have risen by more than 11%. The group highlights its growth in Ibiza, where it will achieve an occupancy rate of 98% in the high season, with a tariff increase of 18%.

For the region of Andalucía, Barceló is maintaining a similar occupancy rate to 2015, with an increase in the price per room of 13%.

Meanwhile, Palladium is forecasting an average occupancy rate for its hotel stock of 88.3%, six percentage points higher than in 2015, with an increase of 10% in the average daily rate (ADR) and in revenues per available room (RevPAR).

Sources at RIU indicate that its business is performing “very well” this season, in line with last summer, when occupancy rates were very high in all of its hotels along the Spanish coast and on the islands. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotel Revenues Soar Thanks To Tourism Boom

17 May 2016 – Expansión

Spain’s large hotel groups are preparing for another record year after figures for the start of 2016 have confirmed that the tourism boom is continuing across the peninsula. The volume of international tourists grew by 4.4% between January and April, to 16 million, which together with the successful Easter period and the continuation of the recovery in domestic demand, means that experts are forecasting a better summer season than in 2015 and another record year.

Last year, Spain received 68.1 million international tourists, up by 4.9%, which boosted the business of the main Spanish hotel chains. Barceló, RIU, Melià and Iberostar took advantage of the situation, favoured by instability in rival countries such as Turkey and Egypt, and closed 2015 with double-digit revenue growth. In 2016, profitability will continue to rise thanks to the continuation of the favourable environment and the fact that the chains are accelerating their entry into new markets, as well as remodelling their hotels.

Iberostar’s revenues soared by 29% to €1,847 million and it was the hotel chain that improved the most. The company owned by the Fluxá family will open six new properties in 2016 and will spend €90 million renovating its hotels.

Meliá’s turnover grew by 16.3% to €1,738 million, whilst Barceló generated revenues of €2,480 million in 2015, representing growth of 20.6%, and a net profit of €100.2 million, up by 116%. It was the most profitable Spanish hotel chain. This year the group expects to see improvements across all of the regions in which it operates. Specifically, its objective for 2016 includes generating EBITDA of around €326 million and a net profit of €125 million.

In the case of RIU, its revenues grew by 14% to €1,848 million. The company has announced its intention to invest €390 million in 2016 with the opening of four hotels and the complete refurbishment of another eight.

Meanwhile, last year Palladium recorded revenues of more than €500 million for the first time in its history, up by 20% compared with 2014. The chain owned by the former minister Abel Matutes plans to create 1,300 jobs in Spain and 300 in America. The group is undergoing an expansion process in Latin America, which includes opening new hotels in Jamaica and Mexico, with a committed investment of between €800 million and €900 million over five years.

According to the Chairman of Cehat, Juan Molas, who confirmed the current trend, 2016 is going to be a “very good year”, thanks to traditional markets, such as the UK, German and French and the recovery of the Russian Market, which had declined somewhat in recent years. In addition, new routes to Asian countries may boost alternative tourism besides the traditional sun and beach segment.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ceav, Rafael Gallego, said that some destinations, such as the Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol and Levante, are already close to overbooking. Instability in countries that compete with Spain, such as Turkey, is contributing to this record; as is the parity of the dollar with the euro, which makes Caribbean destinations less attractive; and the price of oil.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake