London set to lead the way in hotel deals
London is set to be a hotbed of mergers and acquisitions in the hotel sector in 2014, according to a new report.
The survey of 400 hotel industry professionals found that 76% thought London would see the most mergers and acquisitions activity in 2014, followed by Paris at 49%.
Compiled by law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and launched at Berlin's International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) today, the report found optimism in the hotel sector, with 97% of respondents predicting that revpar in Europe would grow in 2014.
Karen Friebe, BLP hotels group partner and author of the survey, said: "This is an optimistic outlook for the industry, hence the title of our report - ‘Confidence in a recovering market'. That confidence could time out though, as there is a debate amongst our respondents as to how long the recovery will last. A number of people we spoke to predicted no more than 12-24 months for the current tailwind."
Some 60% of those surveyed also said that they believed investors valued hotels as an attractive asset class, while 21% said appearing on review sites aligned with an increase in profit.
The top trends identified were:
76% believe London will see the most M&A activity, followed by Paris at 49% and Berlin at 25%
Nearly a quarter said online comparison sites such as TripAdvisor are boosting profits
Over half expect to see strong inward investment into the European market and believe hotels have outperformed "traditional ", commercial property
60% believe investors increasingly see hotels as an "attractive" asset class
Over two thirds believe investment this year will be focused on Europe
Institutional investors increasingly value the benefits of hotel property as an attractive real estate asset class
