Your Shout: Derek Gammage, CB Richard Ellis Hotels – Europe
This year is set to break records for hotel deals, and it's difficult to remember when we last saw such a level of activity so early in the year.
We have already seen the sale of the Savoy Group and an unprecedented level of activity in the corporate and individual asset markets. There is a level of interest in European, London, and UK provincial hotel assets which we have not seen since before September 2001.
The revival appears to be global. Our colleagues in the USA have reported the strongest first quarter in the firm's history. With 46 hotels sold already in 2004, buying activity in the USA has been described as "frenzied". In our own region, we expect major disposal plans from branded operators and private owners alike, in response to exceptional interest from European, US and Asian investors.
The interest in hotel assets goes beyond trophy properties. With a return to profitable trading, hotel assets are looking like a good sell option for prudent owners who have sat out the turmoil of the last three years, and these assets look like attractive growth opportunities for new investors in the market. Hotels have proved their resilience through the horrors of recent times and are now seen as a sensible recovery play. We have a market which is appealing to both buyers and sellers.
We are seeing good-quality assets coming to the market at a rate we have not seen for three years, and all are attracting interest. And the recovery is not limited to existing assets - we are involved in new development projects ranging from Moscow to Heathrow. I believe that what we are witnessing is a return of confidence in the future.
