Seriously, hotel oversupply threats are plain overrated: analysts

2014 could actually be a good year.

According to DBS, 2014 is shaping up to be better for hoteliers than previously thought. 

New hotel completions, based on channel checks, are expected to be fewer than expected, as almost one-third of the planned hotel pipeline or c.987 rooms may be delayed till 2015.

Here's more from DBS:

This means that actual supply growth may only be c.3.5% y-o-y, with openings mainly skewed towards the end of 2014.

Coupled with optimistic projections from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) that visitor arrivals would reach 16.3m-16.8m in 2014 (+5.0%-8.0% y-o-y), we believe that the hospitality industry may be faced with a room crunch in 2014.

The investment into growing Singapore’s total accommodation supply continues into 2014, with 12 hotels or c. 2,926 rooms expected to complete over the course of the year, based on estimates at the start of the year.

However, based on our channel checks, we believe that actual completions may be lower at c.1,945 rooms (eight out of the 12 hotels in the pipeline for 2014), meaning that the industry is expected to see only a 3.5% increase, smaller than the 5% we had previously envisioned.

This will imply that 2014 will see one of the fewest hotel completions over the past three years, in a year of growing accommodation demand.