Ascott achieves 139% YoY growth with record over 5,400 new units added globally amid COVID-19 crisis
25 new properties signed as domestic demand for serviced residences remains resilient while international travel gradually resumes
Singapore, 17 June 2020 – CapitaLand’s wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has set a new record by securing contracts for 25 new properties with over 5,400 units across nineteen cities globally. This is the largest number of new properties Ascott has clinched in the first five months of any year. This is also a 139% year-on-year increase in the number of units secured, compared to the same period in 2019.
Through the new properties, Ascott will expand its geographical reach into four new major cities in China, Indonesia and Morocco. Ascott will enter Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province; and Nanchang, the capital and largest city of Jiangxi Province. In Indonesia, it has expanded into Jayapura, the capital and largest city of Papua Province; and in Morocco, it has ventured into Casablanca, the largest city of Morocco. Ascott will also further strengthen its presence in key gateway cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in China; Batam and Surabaya in Indonesia; as well as Manila in the Philippines.
The 25 new properties are secured under management contracts, franchise contracts and a lease. The properties will open in phases between 2020 and 2024. This year, Ascott has also opened six new properties in Singapore; Changsha and Tianjin in China; Gold Coast in Australia; Osaka in Japan; and Tours in France.
Ascott continued to ramp up its presence with these new signings and property openings amid the COVID-19 outbreak, when many of Ascott’s serviced residences remained operational to provide a safe haven for its guests, including healthcare workers, returning nationals, and those affected by border closures. As cities emerge from their lockdowns, Ascott’s value proposition as a ‘home away from home’ continue to resonate well with its guests and partners across the world.
“Ascott’s record signing of 25 new properties globally despite the challenges of COVID-19 demonstrates that our partners recognise the resilience of our lodging products and the value Ascott brings as one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. We have a strong base of long-stay guests who appreciate the comfort of our spacious apartments where they can live and work. This has enabled our serviced residences globally to maintain robust average occupancy rates. We have already taken steps to ready Ascott to be the accommodation of choice in a post COVID-19 landscape and will continue to cement Ascott’s position as a dominant lodging player and deliver more value for our guests and business partners.”
- Mr Kevin Goh, CapitaLand's Chief Executive Officer for Lodging and Ascott’s Chief Executive Officer
Domestic demand for serviced residences remains resilient in China
Half of the 25 new contracts secured are in China. Ascott has also signed its first rental housing property in China, located in Shanghai. The expansion into the segment taps on the growing demand from young, mobile workers as well as returning students from abroad who are looking to rent quality fully furnished homes in the tier one and tier two cities on a long-term basis in China.
In 2Q 2020, a quarter of Ascott’s properties in China have achieved occupancy rates of over 70%. Ascott has also achieved 100% occupancy rate across some of its properties in cities such as Hangzhou, Suzhou and Wuxi over China’s five-day ‘Mini Golden Week’ public holiday1.
“Ascott remains confident in China’s long-term growth and will continue to seek good investment and partnership opportunities to expand our footprint. Since May 2020, Ascott has fully resumed operations of our properties in mainland China and we are seeing encouraging signs of recovery driven by the country’s strong domestic demand. With the implementation of green lanes between China and other countries such as Singapore2 and Korea3, we expect demand for our properties to pick up pace as international travel gradually resumes. We stand ready to welcome our new and returning guests to Ascott, their home away from home.”
- Mr Tan Tze Shang, Ascott's Managing Director for China and Head of Business Development for China
In May 2020, Ascott launched ‘Ascott Cares’ to deliver stringent hygiene and cleanliness standards as well as safe distancing to continue providing safe homes for its guests, and a safe working environment for its staff. Covering nine commitments, ‘Ascott Cares’ is in compliance with the World Health Organization standards and local regulations. It is being rolled out progressively to its properties globally from June 2020. For more information on ‘Ascott Cares’, please visit: www.the-ascott.com/ascottcares.
With the addition of the 25 new contracts, Ascott has a total of close to 118,000 units in over 700 properties worldwide. These new contracts will offer a boost towards achieving Ascott’s global target of 160,000 units by 2023.
Please see Annex A for highlights of some of the newly secured properties; and Annex B for the newly opened properties.
Notes:
[1] China’s ‘Mini Golden Week’ took place from 1 May 2020 to 5 May 2020.
[2] 3 June 2020, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry on the Singapore-China Fast Lane for Essential Travel
[3] Bloomberg, 30 April 2020, China, South Korea Ease Border Controls For Business Travel
ANNEX A
Highlights of some of Ascott's newly secured properties:
ANNEX B
Ascott's newly opened properties: