2022 good time to invest in Malaysian hotels, says property specialist

Property consultant Knight Frank Malaysia says there is a strong appetite for hotel investments in the country.

房地产顾问莱坊马来西亚Knight Frank Malaysia表示，该国对酒店投资的兴趣很大。

According to a Knight Frank Malaysia survey, more than 60% of respondents were looking to increase their exposure to the sector.

根据马来西亚莱坊的一项调查，超过 60% 的受访者希望增加对该行业的投资。

Knight Frank's Malaysian Hospitality Investment Intentions Survey showed that 64% of respondents were considering increasing their exposure to the Malaysian hotel sector, a sharp hike in comparison with 36% back in 2020. 

莱坊的马来西亚酒店投资意向调查显示，64% 的受访者正在考虑增加对马来西亚酒店业的投资，与 2020 年的 36% 相比大幅上升。

The survey revealed that 36% of respondents were not interested in increasing their exposure in hotels but this was a significant drop compared to the 64% in 2020. 

调查显示，36% 的受访者对增加酒店曝光率不感兴趣，但与 2020 年的 64% 相比，这是一个显着下降。

"This is a positive sign that sentiment towards the sector is returning," it said.

“这是一个积极的迹象，表明对该行业的情绪正在恢复，”它说。

Knight Frank Malaysia executive director capital markets James Buckley said given the last two tumultuous years, it was not surprising that investments in hotels across Malaysia had fallen from a 2017 high of RM2.2 billion to just RM556 million in 2020 and RM177 million in 2021. 

莱坊大马资本市场执行董事James Buckley表示，鉴于过去两年动荡，大马酒店投资从 2017 年的高位 22 亿令吉跌至 2020 年的 5.56 亿令吉和 2021 年的 1.77 亿令吉，这并不奇怪。

Buckley said since its first survey, the firm had seen a rapid and widespread distribution of Covid-19 vaccines globally, an increasing list of countries opening their borders to international travellers and airlines re-establishing some of their flight networks. 

Buckley说，自第一次调查以来，该公司已经看到 Covid-19 疫苗在全球范围内迅速而广泛地分发，越来越多的国家向国际旅客开放边境，航空公司重新建立了一些飞行网络。

"International travellers' confidence is slowly returning and this is filtering through to the 2022 survey with investor sentiment recovering. 

“国际旅行者的信心正在缓慢恢复，并且随着投资者情绪的恢复，这种信心正在渗透到 2022 年的调查中。

"We do expect to see an increasing number of hotel transactions over the next 24 months," he said. 

“我们确实预计未来 24 个月内酒店交易数量会增加，”他说。

Knight Frank said investors continued to seek high returns to offset the risk of investing in the sector. 

莱坊表示，投资者继续寻求高回报以抵消投资该行业的风险。

33% of respondents were targeting a net yield of above 7% (versus 36% in 2020) when acquiring a four to five-star hotel in Malaysia, the survey said.

调查显示，33% 的受访者在收购马来西亚的四到五星级酒店时，目标是净收益率超过 7%（而 2020 年为 36%）。

Buckley said investors were seeing 2022 as a good time to invest in Malaysian hotels as they can see the economy was recovering, especially now that the borders had opened. 

Buckley表示，投资者认为 2022 年是投资马来西亚酒店的好时机，因为他们可以看到经济正在复苏，尤其是在边境开放的情况下。

He said many can see the strong pent-up demand for holiday travel and in the short term, Singapore tourists, coupled with domestic demand would drive hotel performance in 2022. 

他说，许多人可以看到对假日旅游的强烈压抑需求，短期内，新加坡游客加上国内需求将推动 2022 年的酒店业绩。

"We expect to see hotel transaction volumes to increase in 2022 as the price gap between vendors and purchasers will narrow as investors become more optimistic with the border opening and increasing arrivals. 

“我们预计 2022 年酒店交易量将增加，因为随着投资者对边境开放和入境人数增加变得更加乐观，供应商和购买者之间的价格差距将缩小。

"Although bank financing of hotels has been quite difficult during the pandemic, banks will also see the improvements in the sector and begin to lend again," he added.

他补充说：“尽管在大流行期间，银行对酒店的融资相当困难，但银行也将看到该行业的改善并重新开始放贷。”