Tag: visitors

Deloitte: 173 New Hotels will Open in Spain Between Now and 2021

9 June 2018 – Expansión

The tourist boom and interest in the real estate sector have boosted the hotel segment. So far this year, operations amounting to €2.4 billion have been closed and an acceleration is forecast for the coming months.

Spanish hotels are standing out as one of the most sought-after assets for investors in the real estate market. The tourism boom in Spain, which recorded its fifth consecutive record year in 2017 with the arrival of 82 million international visitors, coupled with the property boom, caused hotel investment to reach maximums in 2017 of almost €3.1 billion. Moreover, the commitment from investors to these assets will allow that figure to double this year.

According to data from the Hotel Property Handbook, compiled by Deloitte, to which Expansión has had access, €3.1 billion was transacted in the segment last year, which represents an increase of 44% YoY and accounts for 22% of all the investment activity undertaken in Europe, placing Spain at the head of the investment ranking behind only the United Kingdom, which accounted for 29%.

During the first five months of this year, more than €2.4 billion has been invested, which will be added to operations currently under negotiation amounting to around €4.2 billion, which are expected to close over the coming months, according to the study.

“So far this year, we have transacted an investment volume almost as high as that signed during the whole of last year. The private equity funds are proving to be the main stars of the activity, which may even double the figure recorded in 2017”, said Javier García-Mateo, Partner at Deloitte Financial Advisory.

Loans

That is in addition to the strong appetite from traditional Spanish credit institutions to finance hotel properties, due to the momentum of the sector. Their financing spans projects under development, including remodellings, repositionings and developments. In this sense, the most active banks in terms of senior lines of credit for these assets are CaixaBank, Santander and Sabadell.

Investors are betting on mega-operations and the creation of large portfolios, which will allow them to have a diversified business and gain bargaining power over tour operators.

This trend comes in addition to the interest from Asian players in hoisting their flags in Spain. For example, the emergence of the Thai group Minor in NH Hotel Group, which has reached an agreement to purchase HNA’s stake in the Spanish hotel chain and is studying a takeover bid for 100% of the company.

In this context, the large hotel groups have taken advantage of the boom years to invest in improvements in their asset portfolios although there is still a long way to go. The opening and renovation of hotels consolidated itself in 2017, with activity involving 74 hotels and 12,500 rooms, reaching cruising speed following a significant recovery in 2015 and 2016, with projects in 120 hotels and almost 17,300 rooms.

Over the next five years, investment in work to adapt the hotel stock is expected to amount to €2.2 billion.

According to the report, 65% of the hotel stock in Spain is obsolete, with an average age of more than nine years, which makes investment in capex the main priority if operators are to handle the competitive pressures and achieve better margins.

“The strong growth in tourism in Spain contrasts with average rates that are still excessively low in the holiday segment. The renovation of obsolete projects, combined with the arrival of international operators, will allow the repositioning of an offer that ought to compete on quality rather than quantity”, explains Viviana Otero, from Deloitte Financial Advisory.

By region, the Canarian archipelago, Andalucía and the Balearic Islands are the regions that require the greatest capex spending, accounting for almost 68% of the total.

This effort has contributed to an improvement in the main performance ratios of hotels. According to Deloitte, revenues per available room (RevPAR), one of the main profitability indicators, grew by 10% last year.

New openings

The strong performance of the sector also accounts for the new promotions and project renovations underway. Over the next four years, 173 hotels are expected to be opened in Spain containing almost 30,000 rooms. “53% of those will be new projects and 47% will be renovations. It is worth highlighting the importance that rebranding is gaining as a defensive strategy against the alternative destinations of Greece, Turkey and Croatia, said Patricia Plana from Deloitte Financial Advisory.

In terms of challenges facing the sector, the report highlights the saturation of certain destinations in the summer and the problems of co-existence alongside local residents in those regions, as well as the recovery of competitor countries in Southern Europe and the rise of holiday rentals boosted by collaborative economy platforms such as Airbnb.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Port Aventura to Invest €40M in New 4-Star Hotel & Fairground Ride

23 May 2018 – Expansión

The Port Aventura theme park, owned by Investindustrial and KKR, is going to invest €40 million next year in the construction of a new themed four-star hotel in the Far West area and a new fairground ride – the first dark ride – in the Sésamo Aventura children’s area.

The hotel will absorb a budget of €25 million and will join the five other hotel establishments already in operation in the resort. The aim of Port Aventura is to exceed 5 million visitors this year thanks to the boost from Ferrari Land, which opened five new children’s rides yesterday, according to Efe.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Foreign Visitors to Spain Rose by 6% in Q1

4 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Tourism in Spain is on a roll. During the first quarter of 2018, 13.7 million overseas visitors came to Spain, up by 6% compared to the same period in the previous year, according to data from the Statistics of Tourist Movements across Borders (Frontur), compiled by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).

By country of origin, the British were once again the most prevalent tourists in the country between January and March, with 2.9 million visitors of that nationality. They were followed by German visitors, with 1.9 million people. The number of French tourists, the third most frequent visitor group, amounted to 1.7 million people.

The Canary Islands accounted for most of the international tourist visitors to Spain during the first three months of the year, with more than 3.7 million visitors, becoming the autonomous region of choice. Meanwhile, 3.1 million foreigners arrived in Cataluña, and Andalucía was the region that completed the Top 3 most visited during the period, with 1.9 million tourists.

In March alone, the arrival of overseas visitors to the country gained momentum with an increase of 9.6% with respect to the same month last year, to 5.4 million people. This increase contrasts with the rises recorded in January and February, which amounted to 5.2% and 2.6%, respectively.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Klépierre to Invest €45M in Expansion of Maremagnum Shopping Centre in Barcelona

3 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The world’s shopping centre giants are very much focused on Spain. Whilst at the beginning of the year, Unibail-Rodamco announced that it was putting up for sale four non-strategic shopping centres in Spain, today, it is another French firm, Klépierre, who is picking up the gauntlet and redoubling its commitment to the country. The company is going to invest €45 million in the expansion of its Maremagnum shopping centre, located in Barcelona, according to sources at the company speaking to Eje Prime.

The group estimates that it will spend €45 million to increase the complex by 8,000 m2, space that will be added to the second floor and sides of the shopping centre. According to the company, the building work will begin in the coming months, although it is not expected to be completed until the second half of 2021. This is the only renovation or expansion project that Klépierre currently has planned in Spain for the next few years.

Maremagnum is one of the jewels in the crown of Klépierre. Located in one of the most touristic enclaves of Barcelona and where a large number of cruise ships disembark every day, the complex was launched in 1995 and was renovated in 2012.

Currently, Maremagnum has a total surface area of 22,542 m2, of which 18,800 m2 are dedicated to commercial activity. More than 154 brands operate in the shopping centre, including the Swedish giant H&M, the majority of the Inditex chains, the US firm Victoria’s Secret and restaurant operators such as McDonalds.

Maremagnum has formed part of Klépierre’s portfolio since 2015 when it completed the purchase of the Dutch company Corio for €7.2 billion. The French group completed the acquisition of Corio after launching a public exchange offer in October 2014 for 93.6% of the shares in circulation.

The objective of the French real estate company with that purchase was to expand its presence in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, given that Corio owned complexes in seven counties and in urban centres such as Amsterdam and Istanbul, as well as in cities such as Madrid, Rome, Turin, Utrecht and Berlin.

Specifically, following that merger, Klépierre took ownership of an asset portfolio comprising 178 shopping centres spread over 16 European countries with a combined asset value of €21 billion. In this way, after the merger, Kléperre’s portfolio in Spain comprised around twenty shopping centres, worth more than €2.26 billion, and which generate a profit of €110 million for the group (…).

Good results for the sector in Spain 

In macroeconomic terms, shopping centres are performing well in Spain at the moment. Turnover for these types of assets rose by 1.5% last year with respect to the previous year, whilst visitor footfall grew by 1.1% YoY.

The sectors that performed the best last year with respect to 2016 in terms of sales were the home, leisure and restaurant sectors, with increases of 5%, 3.7% and 2.7%, respectively, according to a report from Cushman&Wakefield.

According to the real estate consultancy, new additions such as customer advisory services and sensory and emotional perception, which create new experiences for users, have helped this increase in shopping centre sales figures and visitor numbers. Nevertheless, consumer electronics stores saw their sales fall by 1.8% last year, with respect to 2016.

The occupancy rate of the assets analysed was 91% in 2017, three points above the level last year. The higher demand for retail space also led to increases in rents in shopping centres, which saw rental prices rise by 1.4% last year.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar Spends €6M on Renovation of Megapark Barakaldo Shopping Centre

10 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Lar is giving one of its assets a makeover. The Socimi owned by the Lar España group has started work on the complete renovation of the Megapark Barakaldo shopping centre, for the first time since its construction in 2004, which will involve an investment of €6 million, according to a statement issued by the group.

The shopping centre, which is owned by Lar España Real Estate Socimi, has been managed by Neinver since 2016. Neinver, which is directing the renovation work, is one of the leaders in the development and management of outlet centres in Spain and the second largest operator in Europe.

The renovation of Megapark is going to be carried out in two phases. Firstly, work will be undertaken in the retail space; this has already begun, without affecting the daily activity of the centre, and is due to be completed in November 2018. Subsequently, work will begin on the leisure area to modernise and unify its image with the rest of the park.

“During this first phase, the renovation of Megapark Barakaldo’s retail area will be reflected primarily in a more current image, which is going to be accompanied by the renovation of all of the façades, outdoor spaces and common areas”, explain sources at the group. For this, an urbanisation plan has been developed, which includes introducing urban design furniture and children’s areas.

The general remodelling of the centre is also being accompanied by the renovation of some of the retail stores such as those of Mediamarkt, Kiabi, Merkal and Forum, as well as the expansion of the Conforama store by 1,200 m2 to reach 6,200 m2.

Megapark Barakaldo is located fifteen minutes from the centre of Bilbao and is the only retail and leisure area of its kind in a 400 km radius. In 2017, it received more than 10 million visitors and it has a surface area of 128,000 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hostmaker: Tourist Flats were 11.6% YoY More Expensive in Barcelona this Easter

6 April 2018 – Eje Prime

The Barcelona brand is continuing to sell outside of its borders. The price of tourist rentals in the Catalan capital rose by 11.6% during the recent Easter holidays. This data is evidence of the “recovery” of the city, according to the apartment manager Hostmaker.

The British company, which has been operating in Barcelona since 2015, reveals that visitors paid €115 per day, on average, for every night that they spent in one of the hundreds of tourist apartments located all over the city, up from the €103 that they paid last year during the same (equivalent) dates.

“We are seeing a trend that confirms the recovery of the Barcelona brand”, said Inés Nobre, Director General of Hostmaker in Spain. The data from her company supports this statement, given that the occupancy rate of tourist apartments grew by 25% between 24 March and 2 April 2018 compared to the same (equivalent) period in 2017.

Of the tourists who used the platform to spend Easter in Barcelona, European visitors were the most prevalent, accounting for 57% of total reservations, followed by North Americans, with 23% of the total. People from Asia and South America, with 11% and 9%, respectively, were the other two visitor profiles who took advantage of the holidays to stay in tourist apartments in Barcelona.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Unibail-Rodamco Puts 4 Shopping Centres Up For Sale

14 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Unibail-Rodamco is getting rid of a package of assets that are non-strategic for the group. The French giant has put the following complexes up for sale: Los Arcos, in Sevilla; Bahía Sur, in Cádiz; Vallsur, in Valladolid, and El Faro, in Badajoz, on the basis that they do not fulfil the group’s needs in the Spanish market, according to sources close to the company speaking to Eje Prime.

According to the same sources, “the assets that the group wants to divest are profitable, but due to their location, size and strategy, the firm has decided to get rid of them”. Unibail-Rodamco has entrusted the sale of these four assets to the real estate consultancy firm Cushman&Wakefield.

Sector sources say that, initially, the Equinocio shopping centre in Madrid was also going to be put on the market alongside the other four assets, however, Unibail-Rodamco must have changed its mind at the last moment. The price that Unibail-Rodamco has set for each asset is unknown.

The sale of these four assets forms part of the operation that the firm carried out last year with Barnasud, the complex acquired by Meridia Capital, a Catalan fund owned by the businessman Javier Faus, which paid Unibail-Rodamco €35 million for the asset.

In recent years, the French group has spent a significant amount on the renovation of some of its shopping centres in Spain. The most ambitious project was the Glòries shopping centre, where the company invested €150 million on its complete transformation. In total, the transformation added 12,500 m2 of public space, spread over 8,500 m2 of new streets, 2,500 m2 of urbanisation and pavements around the site and 1,500 m2 of new green space in the 22@ neighbourhood.

Whilst Unibail-Rodamco waits to receive the green light for the expansion of one of its main shopping centres in Spain, La Maquinista, the group’s portfolio in Spain comprises 12 shopping centres, with Barcelona and Madrid as the cities that are home to the most complexes. Whilst in the Catalan capital, the company operates La Maquinista, Glòries and Splau, in Madrid it manages La Vaguada, Equinoccio and Parquesur shopping centres.

In the rest of the country, Unibail-Rodamco has one complex in Valencia, Bonaire; one in Cádiz, Bahía Sur; one in Sevilla, Los Arcos; Vallsur, in Valladolid; El Faro, in Badajoz, and one in San Sebastián, which operates under the name Garbera.

Currently, the group led by Christophe Cuvillier has a portfolio in Spain worth €3.6 billion, which receives 126.2 million visitors per year. These assets represent 10% of the firm’s global portfolio.

Double-digit growth in Spain

The company ended last year in the Spanish market with a net profit of €161 million, up by 10.3% compared to 2016, when the group earned €146 million.

In this way, Spain has become one of the highest growth countries for Unibail-Rodamco. In all of the markets in which it operates, the French company recorded a net profit of €1.35 billion in 2017, up by 5.8% compared to the previous year, when its earnings amounted to €1.27 billion (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Carmila Buys Gran Vía de Hortaleza Shopping Centre in Madrid from Klépierre

5 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Carrefour is expanding its project to increase the value of the shopping centres adjacent to its hypermarkets in Spain. Carmila, the management vehicle created by the French food group, has paid €212 million for a portfolio of two complexes, including the Gran Vía de Hortaleza shopping centre in Madrid. The other asset acquired by the company is the Gran Vitrolles shopping centre, located in Marseille (France).

Gran Via de Hortaleza was opened in 1992 and is located in the northeast of the Spanish capital. The complex spans two floors and is home to a Carrefour hypermarket measuring 10,950 m2, ranked as one of the brand’s five largest stores in Spain. Moreover, Gran Vía de Hortaleza has 69 stores spread over a surface area of 6,300 m2 and outdoor space for 1,700 parking spaces.

Each year, the centre receives 6.3 million visitors and it has a penetration rate of 54% in the area in which it is located, according to Business Inmo. Companies that have a store in Gran Vía de Hortaleza include Mango, Promod, Okaidi, Calzedonia, Primor, Fosco, Rodilla, 100 Montaditos, Alain Afflelou and Burger King, amongst others.

Carmila’s objective with this shopping centre is to renovate it and convert it into a “family space”, as reported by the company, which is seeking, amongst other aspects, to improve the occupancy rate of the complex from its current value of 92.7%.

The other shopping centre acquired by Carrefour’s real estate manager is Grand Vitrolles. Located in Marseille, it is a large retail complex with 84 stores spread over a surface area of 24,530 m2 and a Carrefour hypermarket measuring 20,500 m2.

Outside, that shopping centre has parking with capacity for 4,709 vehicles. Carmila will expand the complex by 11,700 m2 to increase the number of stores to 130 units.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Unibail Will Invest at Least €800M in Spain Over 6 Years

26 January 2018 – Expansión

Unibail-Rodamco, the largest European real estate group, has committed investments for projects in its portfolio in Spain amounting to, at least, €800 million between now and 2024; it has already disbursed €120 million of that figure.

The Director of Development and Investments at Unibail-Rodamco in España, Javier Solís (pictured above, left), explained yesterday at a meeting organised by IESE, Tinsa and Savills Aguirre Newman, that the company has projects in its portfolio spanning a new gross leasable area (including extensions) of 187,000 m2 and a total committed investment of more than €800 million, reports Efe.

Of the projects underway, the director highlighted the shopping centre in Benidorm (Alicante), whose construction has already commenced and which is expected to open in 2020. In his opinion, the increase in visitor numbers and sales at shopping centres suggests “that returns have the potential to rise”.

The director explained that some of the investment planned for the coming years will be spent on improving its assets so that “they are more than just a place to shop”. In this sense, Solía advocates transforming them into centres for meeting up, having fun and being entertained, for enjoying new gastronomic experiences and with higher standards in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability.

In terms of future possible purchases, Solís said that the company’s intention is to incorporate new assets that are already operational, although, for the time being, it does not have any operations on the table.

In Spain, Unibail-Rodamco owns a dozen shopping centres and has two more under development. Its most high profile assets include Parquesur and La Vaguada (in Madrid) and Les Glòries and La Maquinista (in Barcelona), worth around €3.7 billion.

Westfield

Unibail-Rodamco, which has a presence in 11 European countries, reached an agreement at the end of 2017 to purchase its Australian rival Westfield for $24.7 billion (€19.8 billion).

The operation will result in the creation of a colossus with a gross asset value of €61.1 billion and a presence in 13 countries. Following the integration, Unibail-Rodamco will extend its competitive distance over its main European rivals, Klépierre and Hammerson. Indeed, one month ago, the latter announced an agreement to purchase Intu and grow in the shopping centre segment.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vukile Negotiates Purchase of the Habaneras Shopping Centre

25 January 2018 – Eje Prime

A new corporate operation is on the horizon in the shopping centre sector in Spain. The Habaneras complex may be changing hands once again, given that the investment fund Harbert European Real Estate Fund is negotiating its purchase for €80 million from the Socimi Castellana Properties (managed by Vukile).

The Habaneras shopping centre was constructed in 2005 by Metrovacesa. Since then, the complex has been owned by Unibail-Rodamco, which bought it in 2008, and by Harbert, which acquired Habaneras for €65 million, according to Expansión.

The complex has a gross leasable area of 24,158 m2, contains 70 stores spread over three floors and has 800 parking spaces. Its tenants include retailers such as Zara and H&M. The Habaneras shopping centre ended last year with 4 million visitors and operating revenues of €5 million.

Meanwhile, the South African fund Vukile already owns a portfolio containing thirteen shopping centres in Spain and has made investments to date amounting to €290 million across the whole Spanish market.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake