Faster room rate recovery fuels industry cheer despite ongoing labour shortages

HOTELIERS in Singapore have been counting their blessings as room rates creep towards pre-pandemic levels, with some observers expecting a full recovery by the year’s end.

The latest rates rebound “bodes well for hotel owners and operators as they look ahead at the rest of 2022”, ahead of the mid-year peak period, Ananth Ramchandran, head of advisory and strategic transactions for Asia hotels and hospitality at CBRE, told The Business Times (BT).

“For the first time in 3 years, hotels will be able to push occupancy and ARR (average room rates) based on growing inbound travel, rather than relying heavily on quarantine and staycation demand,” he said.