New Year tourism booms in China: China’s tourism market continues to recover during the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, with famous tourism cities and provinces hosting millions of visitors as people swarm to local scenic spots while many chose to stay in place over the long break to avoid a sudden flare-up of COVID-19. During the reported period, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province hosted 6.34 million tourists, up 293% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the province saw ticket revenue of 40.83 million yuan (US$6.32 million), an increase of 166% year-on-year, according to the bureau.
Rescue capital firm created: San Francisco-based Acore Capital, a global credit manager focused exclusively on commercial real estate lending, has raised US$1 billion to launch Acore Hospitality Partners, an investment strategy backed by a group of institutions ultimately focused on providing North American hotel operators with rescue capital to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy is to originate and acquire structured hotel debt investments including senior and mezzanine loans, B-notes and preferred equity. The new program will invest across the entire spectrum of hotel types, ranging from high-end luxury resorts to smaller limited-service hotels, focusing on assets in high-barrier markets and compelling rebound characteristics.
Portuguese hotel portfolio hits market: Portuguese PE firm ECS reportedly has placed a portfolio of 20 hotels and development land on the market for €1.4billion (US$1.7 billion). Among the hotels is the famed Palácio do Governador in Lisbon. The properties, mostly found in in Lisbon, the Algarve and Alentejo, are managed by NAU Hotels & Resorts. The likes of Blackstone, Apollo Global Management, Fortress Investment Group and Bain Capital are reportedly showing interest in the opportunity.
Curator adds 11: Bethesda, Maryland-based Curator Hotel & Resort Collection has added 11 member hotels from the Provenance collection, one of Curator’s six founding members. These boutique lifestyle properties span cities across the United States, ranging from Hotel Lucia in Portland, Oregon, to The Old No. 77 Hotel in New Orleans, and are now members of Curator’s portfolio. The founding members of Curator, which first launched in November 2020, represent a collection of 120-plus independent lifestyle hotels and resorts.
NewcrestImage sells in Frisco, Texas: NewcrestImage has sold its 132-suite, six-floor Hyatt House in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas to a hotel group based in the northeastern United States. The hotel, built by NewcrestImage, opened in March of 2016. The Dallas-based NewcrestImage owns and operates 30 hotels nationwide, including through its private real estate funds. Names of the buyer and the price were not disclosed.