Langham Hospitality invests 1.5 Bn $ in its development

Hotel arm of the Hong Kong based Chinese conglomerate Great Eagle, Langham Hospitality has set its sights on 100 hotels before 2020 and 500 hotels worldwide by 2025, through management contracts as well as subsidiaries by putting 1.5 Bn $ on the table to acquire ten or so properties in America and Europe.

Who said the Asset Light strategy is the only way for hotel development to happen? Certainly not Asian groups that firmly believe in the virtues of property development in order to secure their presence and give owners confidence in those running their properties through management contracts.

Robert Warman, CEO of Langham Hospitality Group, has just told the South Morning Post of Hong Kong, that the group was ready to invest 1.5 billion dollars in 10 hotels in strategic cities in the United States and Europe as well as Asia: Washington, Miami, New York, San Francisco, London, Prague and Shanghai are on the priority list.

The group feels that the market is strong and that the opportunities are affordable for an investor operator. This desire to buy is part of a very ambitious growth plan through which Langham Hospitality wishes to demonstrate its capacities: from the 23 hotels the group currently owns or manages, especially in Asia and London (under the brands Langham and Eaton for 8,300 rooms), the group wishes to grow to 100 hotels under management, including share of symbolic acquisitions, and to cross the threshold to 500 hotels by 2025.

Not all the properties will become luxury hotels, like the current members of its portfolio, but a new brand is underway that better addresses the midscale segment for business travelers. The first will be the Chinese domestic market.