London is top in the world for hotel investment

London is the world's most popular city for hotel investment, according to new research.

Real estate company Cushman & Wakefield said that several large deals this year resulted in the capital securing £2.48b worth of investment between the second quarter of 2017 and second quarter of 2018, ahead of New York (£2.36b); Tokyo (£1.51m); Washington DC (£1.45b); and San Francisco (£1.25b).

American cities dominate the top 10 locations, despite overall investment in North America falling by 21% due to a slowing of interest from Hong Kong and mainland China.

Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) account for global investment growth of 28% and 15% respectively.

Jon Hubbard, head of hospitality EMEA at Cushman & Wakefield, said: "We are seeing an increasing diversity amongst the type of investors coming to play, including institutional investors, whose presence in the market is reducing the risk profile and driving a surge in liquidity.

"An endemic lack of stock will see investors broaden their outlook to non-core locations with strong fundamentals for tourism. Paris, Amsterdam, Athens and Prague will be attractive European locations, as well as Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Singapore, with some localised opportunities likely to emerge in Thailand and India."

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