Travel across the Asia Pacific region (APAC) is well on its way to recovery, with growing travel demand across all markets as the industry approaches the second half of the year. Data from Amadeus’ Demand360 shows that in the first quarter of 2023 (January-March), the region saw a hotel occupancy growth trajectory of 61.7%, surpassing 2019 levels by 3%, thanks to the recent reopening of Greater China's border.
Greater China is leading APAC’s recovery growth, with Q1 2023 hotel occupancy in APAC outpacing pre-pandemic levels by 5%, as compared to Q1 2019. Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) have the highest hotel occupancy level in APAC for Q1, trending up from 64.5% in January 2023 to 76.5% in March 2023.
Hotel occupancy levels in major APAC markets improved throughout Q1 2023. Tokyo is one of several markets with strong performance as hotel occupancy rates reached more than 80% and exceeded records from mid-March to April 2023 during the cherry blossom season. Additionally, Sydney hotels averaged 85% occupancy from February to March 2023. Singapore hotels outperformed prior record highs in 2019 by 2-3% in February and March 2023. Seoul hotel occupancy from January to March 2023 was 7% higher than 2019 performance for the same time period.
Notably, the major markets experiencing the highest regional hotel occupancies in Q1 are Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Beijing, with rates higher than 70% during the Easter week from 7 to 10 April 2023.
Maria Taylor, Head of Commercial, Asia Pacific, Hospitality, Amadeus, concludes, “We are beyond thrilled by the hospitality resurgence that is currently taking place across Asia Pacific compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is a hopeful sign that APAC-based hoteliers may expect a substantial rebound in the long run as travel has picked up its pace, both domestically and internationally.”