Hotel occupancies in Asia will stabilise this year with some growth in room rates expected in the fourth quarter, according to Jones Lang Laselle Hotel’s just-released Asia Digest report. “Hotel values are expected to stabilise in Asia after having fallen an average 10-15 percent last year across all markets.” Scott Hetherington, executive vice president Asia at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said, “Despite an erosion of demand and occupancy resulting from the economic slowdown and in some markets, exacerbated by the aftermath of September 11, average daily rate (ADR) continued to grow.” The optimism was also shared by some 300 senior executives of the hospitality industry who were at the 5th Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference in Singapore, where the report was released. In an audience poll, almost half thought the September 11 crisis had set back recovery in Asia by just six to 12 months and 25 percent thought it was just three to six months. Elaborating on the findings of the report, Rutger Smits, director, hospitality and leisure services, Anderson, said: “Recovery is in sight”. “There is a lot of pent-up demand and opportunities lie in intra-regional travel.” Touching on star performers, he said “China is the success story of 2002. There is huge potential and we’re seeing only the beginning of it.” Shanghai is moving up the ladder rapidly and is expected to register strong RevPAR (revenue per available room) growth, he said. “Strong demand prompted by China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation allowed for robust ADR growth,” he said. Osaka was experiencing a “golden era” largely due to the Universal Studios which opened last year. The boost in domestic tourism within Japan as Japanese stayed home after September 11 also contributed to this, he said. Kuala Lumpur’s four and five-star hotel market benefited from the strong increases in domestic and international tourism last year, due in part to an intensive government tourism marketing campaign and a large increase in transit visitors. India, while relatively unknown to the international hospitality community, is coming on strongly as the government encourages foreign investment, he said. At the other end of the scale, Jakarta’s five-star hotel market suffered from continued political and economic problems, recording an average occupancy of just 29.1 percent. Performance of the four-star segment in the Thailand markets of Bangkok and Phuket fell during 2001. In Bangkok, Smits said, operators attempted to boost occupancy by reducing rates, while in Phuket several new four-star hotels entered the marketplace. But Smits said growth is expected in the Thai hotel markets. Bangkok will gain from increased tourist arrivals while Phuket will gain at the expense of its direct competitor Bali as its perceived as a safer destination. Hong Kong and Singapore hotels are likely to gain from the low, mid-market Chinese tour groups, said Smits.