The luxury hotel magnet concentrates more than a third of investment in Spain
The luxury segment is growing in Spain. Investment in high-end hotels (5-star and 5-star Grand Luxury) reached 1,154 million euros in 2022. This figure represents 37% of all investment made in the hotel sector in Spain, according to data from the real estate consultancy and services company CBRE.
Overall, the hotel sector will be one of the most dynamic asset classes in Spain in 2022, accounting for 18% of total investment with 3,119 million euros. This is the highest figure in the last four years and 13% more than the average for the 2015-2022 period.
In the fourth quarter alone, the volume recorded amounted to €761 million. During 2022, a total of 158 hotel assets and 18,296 rooms were transacted in Spain, compared to 121 hotels and 17,532 rooms in the previous year.
In the 2019-2022 period, Spain concentrated almost sixty five-star and Grand Luxury hotel openings, 40% of which were in 2021. By type of segment, holiday hotels stand out slightly compared to urban hotels. Almost half of the openings in this period were in the Balearic Islands.
Looking ahead, forecasts point to more than ninety future openings planned between 2023 and 2028, of which a large number would be during this year. By category, it is expected that approximately 25% will be in the luxury format, and that around 70% will be located in coastal regions.
“In Spain, there has traditionally been little penetration of international brands in the luxury segment, so there is still a long way to go; we expect this segment, with a much less price-sensitive demand, to continue to grow in the coming years,” said Gustavo Cumella, director of hotels at Cbre Spain.
Cbre highlights that the good hotel investment data, also in the high-end segment, can be explained by the figures recorded in 2022, which confirm the recovery of the sector after the pandemic.
The number of travellers staying in hotel establishments stood at around 103 million last year, only 6% below the figure recorded in 2019. In addition, the recovery of foreign tourism, which accounted for 48% of the total (with the United Kingdom, Germany and France being the main countries of origin), has had a major impact.
