Travel likely to resume with a vengeance as restrictions ease

With the number of tourist trips down by 70% on 2019 last year, 2020 and the beginning of 2021 were “a terrible situation,” said Dirk Bakker, CEO Colliers Netherlands.

Delivering a presentation during Real Asset Live’s Hotels & Leisure Investment Briefing, held online on the REALX.Global platform yesterday, he said that Asia was hit hardest followed by Europe and the Middle East.

However, now that we are emerging from the pandemic travel will increase, the Mediterranean areas improving first. And he added that there is an expectation that people will start to spend money on travel before they start spending on goods.

In investment terms there is an enormous amount of cash available and many new investors in the market. However, the bargains that might have been expected to be available are not there mainly because of investor appetite and government support,

“If you own the real estate and you have government support, it really seems to be pretty much okay,” Bakker said.

Furthermore, some hotels chains that encourage people to work in their lobbies are also receiving a boost from the working-from-home phenomenon as people seek a more communal environment. Bakker said that he expects the more introverted business hotel model will tend to be replaced by a more extrovert model in future as a result.

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.

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