_{Note: *Hotel refers to the upscale hotel market. *ADR stands for Average Daily Rate and is inclusive of service charge. *RevPAR stands for Revenue per Available Room}

During the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing’s main submarkets’ hotels outperformed their 2019 comparable. Benefiting from the Winter Olympics and Spring Festival, the RevPAR of Beijing’s upscale hotel market in February recovered to 87.6% of the same period in 2019. From February 4 to 20, the Winter Olympics attracted increased demand for hotels, especially those with Olympics-related group contracts in Beijing. Although the Winter Olympics were open only to a select group of invited spectators, from a week before the start to a week after the closing, Beijing's key submarkets (Beijing Olympic North Park, Yansha, CBD, and Wangfujing) surpassed the RevPAR in 2019 to varying degrees. Among all key submarkets, Beijing Olympic North Park increased by over 100% compared to the same period in 2019. After the closing ceremony, some Olympic venues, such as the Shougang Park, are emerging as new tourism demand generators in the city.

In the first half of the year, the overall performance of high-end hotels in Beijing was still sensitive to the pandemic. Since March, the pandemic in other first-tier cities resulted in the tightening of Beijing’s entry and exit policies, significantly impacting MICE and business demand in the hotel market. During this period, Beijing hotel performance relied mainly on the leisure demand of residents. As a result, the RevPAR of upscale hotels in Beijing fell by 46.1% MoM in March. In April and May, with the pandemic outbreak in Beijing, RevPAR declined by 26.7% and 34.2% MoM respectively.

The supply of upscale hotels in Beijing will grow steadily in 2022. One Luxury hotel, Shangri-La Shougang Park, which opened in the Shijingshan district, has added 283 rooms to the market. In addition, Beijing Wild Goose & Pine Hotels and Resorts is expected to open this year, adding 67 new rooms to the market. Located on the north shore of Yanqi Lake, Beijing Wild Goose & Pine Hotels and Resorts is one of the key projects for expanding and enhancing the area’s status as a key venue for international conferences, according to the Huairou District Government.

In addition to traditional demand, short-distance travel is becoming a consumer habit. With the implementation of the “dynamic zeroing” policy, short-distance travel has become more feasible and convenient, and the leisure demand of the residents has brought opportunities for the urban and suburban hotel market in Beijing.

Tony Liang, Senior Vice President of JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Greater China, says, “In the context of normalized epidemic prevention, short-distance travel may have become one of the market demand growth points. The current environment creates conditions for the development of suburban travel and urban staycation economy and provides momentum for the recovery of hotel market performance.”