#GLF19 | "What is the future of the hospitality trade? Or: Who will operate the assets?"

Air traffic

Asia's share of global traffic is growing. In a global rebalancing the major American hubs have been caught up with and are no longer leagues ahead in the game. European hubs are above all regional. Depending on their location, they can be a source of value creation for the hotel industry. One element must be taken into account when looking at the statistics. In Europe there are many countries, which multiplies the number of international tourists, it is not a New Yorker travelling to Las Vegas or San Francisco, but a German going to France or Italy.  Asia has also caught up with Europe in terms of the number of rooms.

OYO

Looking at the ranking there have not been many changes. Marriott is experiencing strong organic growth, Jin Jiang is growing; an interesting fact: the Chinese are less Asset Light than western groups. For Jin Jiang: acquisitions, including Radisson Hotel Group, have sent Jin Jiang into second place in the ranking. Big surprise: OYO, with its phenomenal growth, upset all forecasts.

We thought it would take time, massive investments; we were already impressed by the Chinese, then Indian groups entered the scene. The founder of OYO is 25 years old, he started at 22. They have a crazy vision, they began with 10 rooms in 2013, and today they have half a million rooms, both franchised and leased, and they have an ambition to be leaders. Like Jin Jiang and Marriott. The market is thus challenged. OYO means 4% of CAPEX and between 5 and 14 days to rebrand the hotel. An operator that is not originally Chinese but opening 250,000 rooms in China is very rare. OYO is one of the rare players to succeed.

OYO operates 50 hotels in England, and is coming to Germany and France...