AMR EL NADY

Head of hotels and hospitality MEA and EVP

Global Hotel Desk

JLL jll-mena.com

jll

Advisory services

At JLL hotels and hospitality group, we aim to meet the ambitions of our clients at every stage of the investment lifecycle, from acquisition to disposition. The group’s 350-strong global team, based in over 20 countries, has closed more than USD 83 billion in hotel transactions worldwide over the past five years, in addition to 7,350 advisory, valuation and asset management assignments. Our hotel valuation, brokerage, asset management and consultancy services have helped more hotel investors, owners and operators achieve high returns on their assets than any other real estate advisor in the world.

Hotel performance

Globally speaking, hotel performance continues to improve and is nearing 90 percent REVPAR recovery from 2019 (pre-pandemic levels). The Americas, Middle East, Africa and European markets are leading the way, with green shoots expected to occur in Asia Pacific in Q4 2022, when Covid-19 restrictions are further lifted.

From an investment perspective, hotel transactions’ volume reached approximately USD 50.4 billion, down 0.5 percent from 2021. More investment activity is expected in the near term due to a significant volume of debt set to mature over the next 24 months, with current headwinds around record cost of debt affecting equity hurdles. While the debt market is still present, the lending community is showing a more thorough selection process around the borrower and investment profile.

Debt and lending

I expect 2023 to be marked by further turbulence around lending capacity, which is likely to affect transaction volume and result in construction delays over the short and medium term. More branding consolidation activity is anticipated, in line with a growing trend of sustainability-focused operational changes for medium- to long-term savings on costs.

Redefining the hotel experience

Tackling the corporate segment as well, it is likely that we will notice a redefinition of the hotel experience involving much of the aesthetical and technological attributes of the living/coliving sectors.