European hotel activity to reach €4.1b

European hotel activity during first quarter 2023 is estimated to reach €4.1 billion ($4.45 billion), according to the latest hospitality report from Cushman & Wakefield.

This represents a robust growth of 18 percent compared with first quarter 2022 and can be considered a very positive trend given the high financing costs and uncertain economic and geopolitical climate.

Several major deals drove this strong growth, including the sale of Westin in Paris, Mandarin Oriental in Bodrum and Le Richemond in Geneva. Nevertheless, investment activity on a 12-months basis — which smooths the impact of unusually large deals — shows hotel transaction volumes in Europe grew by about 3 percent for the running 12 months ending first quarter 2023, compared with the running 12 months ending first quarter 2022. The strongest growth rates were recorded in Portugal (up 192 percent), France (up 122 percent) and the Netherlands (up 108 percent). Regarding the total volume transac