Hotel investment up to June reached €724 million, already surpassing the figure achieved for the whole of 2013
According to data from CBRE, the world's leading real estate consultancy and service provider, the hotel sector has registered investment of €724 million between January and June of this year. Hence, the total investment volume posted in 2013 (€665 million) has already been surpassed half way through this year.
The good tourism figures, which posted a record high of 124.5 million overnight stays, have helped the main hotel sector indicators. In this respect, in Madrid, which was sluggish up until now, as it very much depends on business tourism, overnight stays increased by 12.5% and in Barcelona by 6.6%.
National demand has grown for the first time since the start of the crisis, posting 3% growth compared to H1 2013. In fact, another sign of domestic recovery is the role of national chains and investors, that accounted for 70% of the deals carried out.
According to Jorge Ruiz, Director of CBRE Hotels Spain, "investment in holiday hotels accounts for half of the deals registered up until now, which is already more than was registered in the whole of 2013. In terms of urban transactions, prime deals continue to be the most frequent, although we are seeing a growing trend for purchasing hotels in secondary urban areas".
In addition, national investors, particularly SOCIMIs, have been very active in acquiring hotels. "Transactions such as Hotel Guadalmina and two hotels let to NH in Madrid by Hispania, demonstrate that hotels are on SOCIMIs radars", points out Miguel Casas, Director of CBRE Hotels in Madrid.
In terms of operators, there has been a frenetic amount of activity in the market, with 119 operator changes and these comprised 75% of the transactions carried out in 2013. On the other hand, the trend for national chains to increase the number of management contracts vs. lease agreements has continued.
There continue to be more foreign tourists, with those from Portugal, Finland and Poland, being the ones who have increased their visits most. The sun and beach destinations (Castellón, Valencia and the Costa Tropical) continue to be the ones seeing the highest numbers. We would also highlight the good performance of inland cities such as Toledo.
