October 15, 2020

CapitaLand’s Ascott says China operations seeing strong recovery, secures over 2,100 new units there

By ellen

Despite facing the pandemic and the worst floods in decades, Ascott Raffles City Chongqing saw an occupancy rate of 80 per cent in August.

SINGAPORE – CapitaLand’s wholly-owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Ltd, on Thursday morning (Oct 15) said it is seeing strong recovery in China on the operations front, with apartment revenue in September performing close to 95 per cent of its year-ago level.

Ascott also said it has been maintaining a steady stream of openings as demand for extended-stay properties continues to grow. In 2020, Ascott opened 17 properties with over 2,400 units, with about half of the units in China.

“With China being the first major economy to resume growth after the pandemic and the easing of domestic travel restrictions in the country, we are seeing strong recovery at our properties in China,” said Kevin Goh, CapitaLand’s chief executive officer for lodging and Ascott CEO.

The company said its occupancy rates in China have been “robust”, with domestic travellers making up close to 75 per cent of its guests in September. Ascott’s properties in tier one cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen achieved an average occupancy rate of over 86 per cent in September. In Chongqing, despite facing the pandemic and the worst floods in decades, Ascott Raffles City Chongqing saw an occupancy rate of 80 per cent in August and “continued to enjoy high occupancy” in September.

During China’s Golden Week holiday from Oct 1-9, several of Ascott’s properties in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing, Xi’an and Wuxi, which are popular destinations amongst domestic travellers, achieved 100 per cent occupancy, said Mr Tan Tze Shang, Ascott’s managing director for China and head of business development for China.

Apartment revenue for properties in China was also higher during the Golden Week holiday compared to the same period last year, he added.

As for new contracts, Ascott said it secured more than 2,100 new units across 12 properties in China in the last three months. This makes for a record high of more than 5,600 new units across 26 properties, 60 per cent more than last year.

“The new additions will reinforce Ascott’s position as the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in China with about 30,000 units in over 150 properties,” said Mr Tan.

Outside of China, Ascott also signed contracts for 10 more properties and over 1,600 new units, including its firsat foray into Austria and six more properties in Indonesia. The new properties are set to open between 2021 and 2024.

In Austria, the Citadines Danube City Vienna will open in 2022, expanding Ascott’s footprint in Europe to more than 6,500 units in 54 properties.

Globally, Ascott has sealed new contracts for more than 3,700 units across 22 properties; about 60 per cent of which in China.