Christie & Co to attend IHIF 2021, with Carine Bonnejean, to present

Regarded as the leading annual conference and exhibition for the global hotel industry, the three-day event brings together key hospitality figures from 80 countries, creating unrivalled networking opportunities, and features over 170 industry leading speakers from across the global hospitality market as part of an exciting programme of educational sessions.

This year, a number of Christie & Co’s Hotel experts from across the UK and European brokerage and consultancy teams will be in attendance, including Darren Bond - Global Managing Director and Carine Bonnejean - Managing Director of Hotels who will be presenting a talk on the first day titled, ‘Rip It Up and Start Again - A Global Trading Update’, which will provide an overview of recent hotel transactions, the development pipeline and a snapshot of global hotel performance.

Additionally, Benjamin Ploppa - Head of Hotels in Christie & Co’s German office will be moderating a panel discussion on the second day of the conference titled, ‘City Hotels: Meeting the Needs of Travellers and Locals’.

The full list of Christie & Co delegates attending this year’s event include:

• Darren Bond – Global Managing Director
• Carine Bonnejean – Managing Director of Hotels
• Benjamin Ploppa – Director - Head of Hotels, Germany
• Jeremy Jones – Head of Hotels Brokerage, UK
• Philippe Bijaoui – Managing Director, France
• Nicolas Cousin – Head of Consultancy, Spain
• Simon Kronberger – Director of Hotels, Austria & CEE

Carine Bonnejean, Managing Director of Hotels, comments, “We’re so delighted to be attending IHIF once again, 30 months since the last event. It’s a great indication that we are returning to a sense of normality, albeit a ‘new normal’ which is reflected in the revised event format, with both in-person and virtual experiences on offer over the three days, providing an invaluable opportunity for key hospitality figures to reflect and compare views on the sector and critical issues resulting from COVID-19, as well as looking ahead and gaining an understanding of where we see the recovery and activity going.”

Ahead of the event, Christie & Co’s European team also comment on the state of their respective markets.

Core Martin, Head of Investment in Christie & Co’s Spain & Portugal said, “Similarly to other countries across Europe, it has been a challenging year in Spain with regards to hotel performance. The first half of the year saw some of the worst figures ever recorded, with just 33.7 million room nights compared to 149.5 million in 2019 and a complete shift in demand from international visitors, from two thirds to a third. This steep drop resulted in many hotels remaining closed and an average occupancy of 27 per cent for the period, against 49 per cent in 2019.

“The busy summer season offered a slight boost to recovery, with increases to both ADR and occupancy, and this situation should continue to improve throughout the remainder of the year, supported by domestic demand and the increasing rates of vaccination throughout Spain. We also anticipate international leisure tourism to progressively return, especially to the Canaries during the winter months.

“Encouragingly, the weakened performance does not appear to have deterred investors, with 2021 turning out to be a very strong year for hotel investment in Spain and Portugal. In Spain alone, EUR €2 billion has already been transacted year to date, an amount which is close to the total investment in 2019, with €1 billion worth of hotel value sold during July and August, which supports our prediction that the second half of the year will experience an acceleration of investment sales.

“Earlier in the year, many of us anticipated an avalanche of distressed resort properties coming to the market at discounted prices yet, in reality, supply has been stemming from very liquid, high-quality hotels and the demand from investors is helping to maintain prices at pre-COVID levels.  

“Barcelona and Madrid have been the focus of most investment interest, with large transactions including the NH Calderón, the Tryp Apollo, the Central Hotel and the Hesperia President in Barcelona, along with the Unico Hotel, the Bless Hotel and the Edition Hotel in Madrid. There has also been some significant portfolio activity, with RIU Hotels acquiring TUI’s 49 per cent stake in 19 hotels for €670 million, and Melia offloading eight hotels to an investment vehicle of Bankinter for €204 million. Additionally, Brookfield acquired the Selenta Hotel portfolio for a figure reportedly around the €440m mark.

“We anticipate more investment activity in the coming months due to the amount of liquidity and demand from investors, particularly within the resort hotel market following the summer months.”

Philippe Bijaoui, Managing Director in France said, “Compared with last year, French hotels have performed well this summer, with some areas even exceeding pre-COVID figures. Properties located along the 5000 km of French coast have generally performed better than in 2019, due to strong domestic demand, along with European travellers. However, the absence of long hauls is still noticeable in large cities, particularly Paris which is still 50 per cent below 2019 occupancy.

“Hotel transaction volumes are picking up pace, with 53 completions this year to date compared to the 32 hotels sold during the last nine months of 2020, with no drop in values so far and no distressed real estate assets.”

Lukas Hochedlinger, Managing Director Central & Northern Europe said, “After a tumultuous 2020 with many hotel transactions put on hold or even abandoned, the beginning of 2021 showed encouraging signs of recovery and improved investor sentiment. Lockdowns and travel restrictions in Germany and Austria were still in place for the larger part of H1 2021, yet investor appetite notably increased, particularly from institutional investors that had been taking a very conservative view towards hotel investments until then.

“On the whole, transaction volumes remain below pre-COVID levels year to date, however some sections of the market have performed better than others, in particular resort hotels from the Baltic Coast in the north to the Alps in the south, due to strong domestic demand. This has led to a surge in buyer demand for this asset type and multiple resort transactions, such as the sale of Pichlarn Castle in Austria, owned by the Bavarian Schörghuber family, to Austrian hotelier, Georg Imlauer.

“Good quality city hotels have also made it back to many investors’ shopping lists. Notable transactions include Union Investment’s acquisition of the ‘Mailänder Turm’ hotel tower development in Stuttgart, which will feature an Adina Hotel and Premier Inn. We expect this positive trend to continue over the coming months and, while a complete operational recovery might take another 12-18 months depending on various factors, the outlook is generally positive.”
 
 
 
For further information on this press release, contact:
Fiona Fieldhouse, Director - Head of Corporate Communications
M: +44 (0) 7738 182 406 or E: fiona.fieldhouse@christie.com