HVS Monday Musings: International Travel: A Long Road to Recovery

By Mandeep S Lamba and Dipti Mohan
International travel continues to remain subdued and restricted to essential travel in most cases due to various reasons. Read on to know more.

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MGM Resorts International and ORIX Corporation Joint Venture to Develop a Multi-billion Dollar Integrated Resort in Osaka Prefecture

Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City have announced a consortium comprising US-based hotel and casino company, MGM Resorts International (“MGM”), and Japan-based ORIX Corporation (“ORIX”) as the preferred partner to develop and operate an Integrated Resort (“IR”) on Yumeshima Island in Japan. The IR will be sitting on a 390-hectare artificial island located alongside Osaka Port and site of the 2025 World Expo. According to the President of MGM Resorts International, William Hornbuckle, the initial investment for the MGM-ORIX IR development is estimated to be JPY1.08 trillion (USD9.7 billion) and the investment plan with ORIX is 40-40-20, where a consortium of other Japanese companies will fill up the last 20%. If not, both MGM and ORIX will take up 50% each. Osaka Prefecture is the last of the three cities to have confirmed its IR partner, with Wakayama Prefecture naming Clairvest Neem Ventures in June and Nagasaki Prefecture choosing Casinos Austria in August.

Coliwoo and Four Star Launch Joint Venture to Acquire Balestier Hotel

Singapore-based Coliwoo Holdings (“Coliwoo”) and Four Star have announced their joint venture and acquisition of Balestier Hotel for SGD15 million. Located at 471 and 473 Balestier Road, the freehold property has a total gross floor area of 10,000 square feet. Coliwoo is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based LHN Group, while Four Stars is a separate joint venture that is equally owned by Singapore Handicrafts, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LHN Group, and W&S Star. Coliwoo would control 40% of the new joint venture, while Four Star would control the remaining 60%. This joint venture intends to develop and operate this property into a co-living hotel, under the Coliwoo brand. Currently, the Coliwoo brand operates over 800 rooms across six properties in Singapore, with these properties located in Amber, Balestier, Boon Lay, Bukit Timah, Lutheran, and Keppel.

Oriental Holdings Sold Melbourne’s Bayview on the Park

Bayview International Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of Malaysia-based conglomerate, Oriental Holdings Berhard (“OHB”), has sold its Melbourne hotel, Bayview on the Park to Australia-based Aware Super and Altis Property Partners at an undisclosed sum for a build-to-rent project. The 203-key hotel was listed at a selling price of between AUD60 to 70 million since early 2021 and was acquired by OHB in 1994 for AUD6.83 million. Located five kilometres south of the Central Business District of Melbourne and within St Kilda Road precinct, the property covers a total of 6,966 square metres landholding overlooking Albert Park and Port Philip Bay. The hotel features a restaurant and bar, several meeting rooms, an outdoor swimming pool and a multistorey carpark. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hotel has ceased operation since 2020. After the completion of the sale, OHB still owns and operates seven hotels across Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Sunway Group Launching First Hotel in Johor Bahru’s Mixed-use Development

Malaysia-based Sunway Group has announced the launch of its MYR160 million Sunway Hotel Big Box in Sunway City Iskandar Puteri (“SCIP”), a 728-hectare mixed-used development with residential, hospitality, retail, educational and medical elements in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Scheduled to open on 1 October 2021, the 284-key hotel can be easily accessed via Senai International Airport, Puteri Harbour International Ferry Terminal and the Coastal Highway Southern Link from Singapore, which is five kilometres away. The hotel features a restaurant that serves international cuisine, three function rooms that cover 300 square metres, a 24-hour fitness centre and an outdoor pool and a children’s pool with a pool bar aside. The hotel is located inside SCIP with direct bridge linkage to the Sunway Big Box Retail Park, where hotel guests could enjoy adventurous activities such as ATV driving, go-karting, paintballing, indoor snowboarding and more in the nearby X-Park, or shop at the open-air mall which covers 46,000 square metres of space and offers various retails, food and beverage and entertainment outlets. Alternatively, hotel guests could also choose to immerse themselves into SCIP’s natural environment, with cycling paths, hiking trails and other activities available inside this eco-paradise.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 1 October 2021