Approval of junket licenses has high-end hotels cheering

Plus more exciting developments that will give the tourism sector a boost – find them out.

According to OCBC Investment Research, exciting developments continue in the tourism sector. The International Cruise Terminal is scheduled to open this quarter and the River Safari will open next quarter.

Last month, meanwhile, marked the first time junket promoters were granted licenses by the Casino Regulatory Authority. With the hotels at integrated resorts running at near full capacity, the big spenders that are brought here by junket operations should gradually have a positive spill-over effect on high-end hotels, said OCBC.

Hotels across all tiers saw significant growth in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) for Feb with increases of 19.2-26.4% YoY on the back of increased occupancy (+3-11ppt YoY) and increased average room rates (+7.4-17.5% YoY).

As with Jan, high-end hotels outperformed budget hotels, with RevPAR increasing more for Luxury and Upscale hotels as opposed to Mid-tier and Economy hotels. As a testament to their pricing power, high-end hotels also registered greater increases in their average room rates.