High-end hotels outperform in Jan

Its RevPAR grew  ~11.7%  while that of budget hotels  decline ~5.0%, thus proves that travelers from developing Asia are not budget travelers, says OCBC.

According to the STB, average RevPAR for Singapore hotels increased 11.7% YoY to S$209 in Jan. On a RevPAR basis, high-end  hotels outperformed budget hotels.

The  Luxury and Upscale tiers increased by 9.1%  and 14.3% respectively while Mid-tier and Economy hotels saw declines of 6.4% and  3.6%. These results support our preference for the high-end hotel sector.

According to OCBC, The decline in  RevPAR for budget hotels comes not from  declining average room rates, which actually increased, but from reduced occupancy (down 7 ppt).

"This supports the thesis that many travelers from developing Asia are not budget travelers," it said.

Singapore visitor arrivals maintained strong growth of 13.4% YoY in Jan 2012 to reach 1.2m. Visitors from China,  the second largest country of origin, spiked up an  astounding 53% YoY.