[photopress:Kempinski_Hotel_Dalian.jpg,full,alignright]Although the occupancy might be down in Shanghai’s upper-tier hotels growth in average room rates will sustain the sector’s profitability in the next two years. This according to industry analysts.
Four and five-star hotels posted a 2.3% drop in occupancy levels to 70.9% in the January-November period last year, according to the latest industry report by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels forecasts that 8,527 rooms in all categories will be added to Shanghai between 2006 and 2008, placing more pressure on occupancy levels as the industry consolidates.
Room rates for Shanghai’s five-star hotels have risen significantly above levels in other comparable Asian cities with the exception of Hong Kong. Now Shanghai’s luxury hotel occupancy levels are a steady 71%.
Some pointers:
International visitor arrivals to Shanghai rose 15.3 percent to 4.45 million last year.
Shanghai hosted 254 international shows last year with total exhibition space exceeding four million square meters.
Shanghai is the most sought after hotel market in Asia followed by Tokyo and Singapore, according to LaSalle’s report.
Source: Shanghai Daily