Singapore luxury hotels poised for rebound following F1, Mice season boost 

[SINGAPORE] Singapore’s luxury hotels are gearing up for a strong finish to the year as a packed slate of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) in the last quarter of 2025 drives a rebound after a sluggish first half.

Since July, luxury hotel occupancies have increased to around 88 per cent, data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed.

For Q4, occupancies are projected to rise further, as Singapore plays host to several high-profile, large-scale events such as the Formula 1 (F1) night race, the Milken Institute’s Asia Summit, cryptocurrency symposium Token2049, and travel trade show ITB Asia. 

In contrast, luxury hotels in the Republic reported an average occupancy rate of 76.4 per cent between March and June, STB data indicated.

Across most Singapore-listed property groups, H1 hotel performance was subdued. This was led by lower tourist spending and global economic headwinds. 

For the hotels it owns, UOL’s revenue per available room (RevPAR), stood at S$291. This was down from S$298 in the year-ago period, but occupancy rose to 77 per cent from 76 per cent previously.

The group owns or manages 49 hotels with about 14,900 rooms, including Pan Pacific Orchard, Pan Pacific Singapore and Mandarin Oriental. 

Meanwhile, OUE Real Estate Investment Trust posted a 12.9 per cent year-on-year fall in hospitality segment revenue. The softer performance was due mainly to a high base in the same period the year before. 

The manager of the trust noted: “Macroeconomic headwinds and heightened geopolitical tensions... impacted discretionary spending.”

Hilton Singapore Orchard, one of its two hospitality assets, had a 21 per cent fall in RevPAR to S$230 in H1, from S$291 in the year-ago period. This was amid an increase in hotel room supply in the Orchard area.

Since 2023, notable luxury hotel openings in the prime shopping belt have included Pan Pacific Orchard, Artyzen Singapore, The Singapore Edition and The Standard, Singapore. 

Similarly, CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) recorded a 14.2 per cent decrease in H1 RevPAR for its Singapore hotels to S$165, from S$193 previously. Its assets include Orchard Hotel Singapore, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, and W Singapore – Sentosa Cove.

The decline was attributed to subdued corporate demand amid global economic and tariff-related uncertainties, the manager of CDLHT said in the group’s H1 earnings release in July. 

Sashi Rajan, executive vice-president for advisory and asset management at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, said: “A strong Singapore dollar and global economic uncertainty have impacted both corporate and leisure demand. While occupancy volumes have remained stable, room rates have come under pressure.” 

For the whole of 2025, 1,325 hotel rooms are expected to be completed – below the 10-year average of 1,645 rooms, but still an increase from the 1,212 rooms added in 2024, said Wong Xian Yang, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia. 

“This incremental rise in inventory is likely to intensify competition, prompting hoteliers to adopt more competitive pricing strategies to maintain occupancy and market share.”

MBS outperforms

Unlike its luxury segment peers, Marina Bay Sands (MBS) bucked the trend with its hotel revenue growing 8 per cent in Q2 to US$134 million.

It recently completed a multi-year transformation, converting almost half of its rooms into suites and tripling its butler team. The hotel now has around 1,850 rooms, including 775 suites. 

“MBS operates in its own sphere compared to the rest of the market, and is relatively unaffected by the general market trends in Singapore,” CBRE Research noted. 

The integrated resort also has the “luxury of some of the best amenities in Singapore”, such as its casino, which posted a 51.3 per cent Q2 revenue gain to US$1.1 billion, compared with US$706 million the year before. 

Catherine He, head of research at Colliers Singapore, said: “MBS continues to outperform due to its strong brand positioning and status as an iconic destination for affluent travellers. In addition, it is a prominent Mice venue which can hold large-scale events that provide a consistent stream of guests.”

MBS declined to respond to queries from The Business Times.

Changing tides 

Cushman’s Wong said: “Buoyed by the F1 night race, several high-profile concert events (such as the November shows of K-pop group Blackpink and Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung) and seasonal tailwinds (are poising) Singapore’s tourism sector... for a stronger performance in H2 2025.”

Visitor arrivals are also on the rise again. Compared with 1.25 million visitor arrivals in June, Singapore recorded 1.68 million visitors in July and 1.61 million in August, based on the latest available STB data. 

The luxury segment’s average room rate for July and August stood at S$642.12, 1.8 per cent higher than in the year-ago period. 

As the F1 weekend coincided with China’s Golden Week this year, some hotels have experienced higher demand for the race period compared with last year. 

A spokesperson for Pan Pacific Hotels Group said: “This year, we have seen stronger performance compared to 2024, with both occupancy and average rates trending higher across the portfolio.” 

William Haandrikman, managing director of Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, said that track-view rooms have commanded a significant premium this year, driven by higher average rates as well as longer stays.

He said: “Looking ahead, we anticipate continued strength during key leisure-driven periods, such as the upcoming Blackpink concert and the festive season. That said, there remains some risk in achieving year-on-year growth given the softness in corporate demand.” 

More luxury hotels are in the pipeline, including top-end Aman Singapore, which will open in The Skywaters at 8 Shenton Way when the skyscraper is completed in 2028.