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Briefs: Thailand market outlook; Hyndman takes bigger role at MOHG

US tightens travel norms: The omicron coronavirus variant has now been identified in at least 24 countries. As a result, the U.S., along with other countries, have announced stricter travel restrictions to curb the spread of the new variant. This comes after U.S. health officials confirmed the country’s first case of the heavily mutated COVID variant in California. Air travelers to the U.S. will have to go through stricter COVID rules, with the CDC mandating all air travelers entering the country to show a negative COVID-19 test performed within a day of departure. The new rule applies to all U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. Japan and Hong Kong will be expanding travel restrictions, while Malaysia has temporarily banned travelers from countries which are deemed at risk.

Thailand market outlook: Thailand reopening its borders for fully vaccinated travelers has come as a respite to the severely impacted tourism and hospitality sectors but market performance is not likely to return to pre-COVID levels in 2022, according to the ‘Thailand Key Hotel Market Trends & Outlook’ by Horwath HTL. Based on surveys conducted in Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Phuket, the report said Hua Hin is expected to lead the performance in both occupancy and ADR in 2022, driven by the first wave of returning Europeans and strong reputation among locals. Domestic market accounts for at least one-third of the total demand. Being the first Asian resort destination to reopen, Phuket is likely to witness a comparatively strong international demand rebound in the high season. However, Phuket’s recovery pace will be slower than Hua Hin’s due to a sharp increase of new supply, reopening of existing hotels and limited demand from China and Russia, the two major source markets. Pattaya will pick up more slowly due to its heavy reliance on Asian markets. The recovery of Hua Hin and Pattaya will drive growth in Bangkok, but the city will face supply challenges similar to Phuket.

Amanda Hyndman takes over at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong

New appointment at Mandarin Oriental Group: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Hong Kong, announced that Amanda Hyndman has been appointed as general manager of Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, area vice president of operations and group director of quality and rooms. Along with managing the company’s flagship property, Hyndman will also oversee operations at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong; Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou; Mandarin Oriental, Macau; and Mandarin Oriental, Sanya. She joined the company in 2007 as general manager of The Excelsior, Hong Kong, before taking charge as general manager roles at Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C., and Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, where she oversaw the Authors’ Wing renovation and hotel’s 140th anniversary.

Sonder to lease Wharton’s new hotel: Sonder has reportedly signed a deal to lease a new hotel in New York City by local developer Wharton Properties. Sonder will reportedly be paying US$300 million to occupy most of the proposed 26-story, 176,375 square foot building for a term of 15 years. The property currently houses a 16,000 square foot retail building previously leased to a clothing retailer. In April, Wharton filed a permit to transform the building into a hotel with retail space on the ground floor and rooftop amenity floor. Wharton is expected to continue to control the retail portion of the building.

Wellness tourism set to grow: Wellness tourism grew 8% annually from 2017 to 2019, reaching US$720 billion, and plunged 39.5% to US$436 billion in 2020, according to the Global Wellness Economy: Looking Beyond COVID report by the Global Wellness Institute. Wellness trips dipped to 601 million from 936 million. A rapid recovery, fueled by pent up demand, will see the wellness tourism sector grow to 21% through 2025, according to GWI data. The wellness real estate market was the number one growth leader, both before and after the pandemic, reaching US$148.5 billion in 2017, US$225 billion in 2019 and US$275 billion in 2020. Wellness residential buildings (either built or in the pipeline) surged from 740 in 2018 to more than 2,300 in 2020. The real estate market is projected to double to US$580 billion from 2020 to 2025 (annual growth of 16%).

Expedia report on travel trend: About 68% of Americans are planning to go for “greatest of all trips” on their next vacation and are considering international destinations like Rome, Bali, London and Paris in 2022, revealed Expedia’s 2022 Travel Trends Report. The study found that travelers are more willing to spend more money than before on their travels in the future (40%). Americans seem to prefer domestic trips mostly to warm weather beach destinations, with 59% of the respondents planning domestic-only trips in 2022. However, about 37% are planning both domestic and international holidays. Among the top-searched domestic destinations were Orlando, Destin, Gatlinburg- Pigeon Forge, Panama City and Maui, while Riviera Maya/Playa del Carmen/Tulum, Rome, Bali, London and Paris were the top searched international spots.

stayAPT Suites, Aileron partnership: stayAPT Suites, the Matthews, North Carolina-based apartment-style hotel brand, has partnered with Aileron Management, Greenville, South Carolina, to develop 10 new franchised stayAPT Suites locations in the southeast region of the U.S. by 2025. Aileron will begin work in 2022 on the first properties in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Savannah, Georgia, followed by more properties in Florida, Alabama and the Carolinas. These new properties will grow stayAPT Suites’ pipeline to 11 states across the U.S. The new brand will have more than 20 open hotels by the end of 2022, along with 15 more in development.

Cordis Auckland to become largest hotel in new Zealand: The new Pinnacle Tower is set to open at Langham Hospitality Group’s Cordis Auckland in Auckland, making Cordis Auckland the largest hotel in New Zealand in terms of room count. The 17-story tower houses 244 rooms and suites and brings the total number of rooms in Cordis Auckland to 640. The tower has been designed by architect Jasmax with art curator Coupland Cormack curating a collection of 46 artworks. A new 2,500 square foot chairman’s suite and separate club lounge for the Pinnacle Tower have been added as part of the renovation, along with the expansion of the hotel’s existing Eight Restaurant, taking the restaurant’s capacity to 250 from 180.

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