Hotel investment in Spain falls by 59% in the first quarter of 2023

The hotel sector reached an investment value of 400 million euros during the first three months of this year in Spain, which represents a drop of 59% compared to the same period in 2022, which was a record year, and 22% compared to the average of the first quarters of the last five years.

This investment, whose total volume has been allocated to individual assets, accounted for 14% of the total investment in Spain from January to March, according to data from the CBRE released this Monday.

During the first quarter, twelve hotel complexes and 1,826 rooms were transacted (compared to 39 hotels and 5,475 rooms in the same period of 2022), leading investment in high-end establishments.

Institutional funds accounted for 80% of the total and, in terms of origin, French investors dominated the market, with 61% of all hotel sector investments, and by operations, the sale of the Dolce Sitges hotel and the Sofía Barcelona represented more than 60% of the total for the quarter.

Investor interest was higher in urban hotels with 54% of the total compared to 46% in the tourist areas for holiday hotels.

Catalonia was the favourite destination for investors, accounting for 63% of the total volume (252 million euros), followed by the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, with 14% of the investment each.

On the project portfolio side, the opening of around 300 hotels (approximately 32,000 rooms) is expected in Spain by 2024, 25% of them being high-end (5-star and 5-star GL), and almost half will be in Madrid, Malaga, Valencia, and the two archipelagos.

According to the director of CBRE, Jorge Ruiz, the investment trend for the coming months will depend to a large extent on the evolution of rates, because although interest in the hotel market continues to be high, macroeconomic uncertainty and the high cost of financing is slowing down the pace of investment in the sector.