Japan Hotel REIT Investment Corporation Acquires Hilton Tokyo Odaiba for JPY62.4 Billion

Japan-based Japan Hotel REIT Investment Corporation (“JHR”) has acquired Hilton Tokyo Odaiba for JPY62.4 billion. Located approximately 8.5 kilometres from Marunouchi business district, Hilton Tokyo Odaiba is a full-service hotel with easy access to Shinagawa, Ginza, and various local attractions including Tokyo Disney Resort, Shiokaze Park, Tokyo Tower, LEGOLAND Discovery Center and Madame Tussauds Tokyo. Set on the waterfront with breath-taking views of the city skyline over Tokyo Bay, the 453-key hotel features Japanese, Western and Chinese restaurants, a bar, an executive lounge, 24-hour business center, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a spa and 22 meeting rooms. The hotel market in Odaiba area is expected to benefit from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. After the acquisition, JHR will pursue to enhance the attractiveness of Hilton Tokyo Odaiba in cooperation with Japan-based Hotel Management Japan Co., Ltd. (“HMJKK”), the operator of the hotel. The new addition brings JHR’s portfolio in Japan to 43 hotels with an asset value of JPY374.5 billion in total in terms of acquisition price.

M&L Hospitality Partners Hilton to Expand into Melbourne, Australia

US-based Hilton Worldwide (“Hilton”) has signed a new management agreement with Singapore-based M&L Hospitality (“M&L”) to operate a new AUD100 million hotel, Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street, in Melbourne Central Business District, Australia. This marks Hilton’s first hotel and M&L’s second hotel to be developed in Melbourne. Situated on the corner of Bourke and Little Queen, the hotel is a redevelopment and preservation of the heritage-listed Equity Chambers building. M&L will add six storeys to the existing building and build a second tower of 16 storeys on the 1,162-square-metre site. Slated for completion by late 2019, the 244-key hotel will feature a restaurant, a bar, a fitness centre, an executive lounge and five meeting venues. The new addition brings Hilton’s portfolio in the Asia Pacific region to 106 hotels.

Indonesia’s New Yogyakarta International Airport to Begin Operations in End April

The new Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) is set to complete its first phase of development and begin operations at end of April with six international flights, two return services from Singapore, and four flights to and from Kuala Lumpur. Located in a coastal area of Kulon Progo regency, the planned 210,000-square-metre facility, costing Rp 6.1 trillion (US$432.64 million), is set to ease traffic at Adisutjipto International Airport which serves approximately 8.4 million passengers annually. YIA will have a 3,250 metre by 45 metre runway, which will be able to accommodate wide-body aircraft and 300 landing slots, a 12,900-square-meter terminal equipped with four air bridges, and will have a capacity of 14 million passengers per year. According to state-owned airport operator, Angkasa Pura I, the airport will be fully completed by the end of the year and there are plans to relocate 30% of domestic flights and all international flights from Adisutjipto Airport. Airlines from Qatar, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Japan,and Australia have expressed their interests to move to the new airport.

Ascott To Expand its Portfolio with 14 Additional Properties

Singapore-based serviced residence owner-operator, The Ascott Limited (“Ascott”), has recently secured contracts to manage 14 properties with over 2,000 units across eight countries including China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. With these deals, Ascott will open its first Ascott The Residence in Germany, as well as three additional properties under its co-living brand, lyf. Slated to open in 2022, Ascott Riverpark Tower Frankfurt will feature 100 rooms designed by renowned architect Ole Scheere. The 131-unit lyf Fukuoka, located within the city’s major retail and recreational centre in Japan and the 160-unit lyf Shanghai China, located in the central business district of Hongqiao, are targeted to open in 2020 and 2022 respectively. Finally, lyf Raja Chulan Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia will be situated in the Golden Triangle and is set to open in 2020. With these three new additions, Ascott has eight lyf properties with over 1,600 units under development in Singapore, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Ascott is the serviced residence arm of Singapore-based real estate company, Capitaland Limited.

China’s Qingming Festival Attracts 112 Million Domestic Visitors This Year

According to the data published by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, domestic tourists’ arrivals recorded approximately 112 million visitors, up 10.9% year on year (y-o-y) while tourist revenue generated a total of RMB47.89 billion, up 13.7% y-o-y, during the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day), a long weekend that began on April 5, this year. Short-distance visits made up more than 60% of all trips. According to the survey, According to the survey, 54.33%, 32.36%, 38.24%, 37.23% and 42.91%,  of respondents visited museums, art galleries, libraries, science museums, and historical and cultural districts, respectively. A growing number of tourists opted to visit Red Tourism attractions such as historical museums and memorial halls, registering a y-o-y growth of 55.2%. A variety of public and cultural activities were held in different places of the country to promote civilized tourism.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 12 April 2019