BANGKOK, 17 September 2025: Investment in Asia Pacific hotels reached USD4.7 billion in the first half of 2025, with investors focusing more selectively on the region’s more established hospitality markets, with 84% of total transaction volume occurring in just five key countries, according to JLL.

Investment in Thai hotels totalled USD 301 million (THB 9.8 billion) in the first half of 2025, fuelling a bullish full-year projection.

Japan continued to lead regional hotel investment with USD1.5 billion in transactions, followed by Greater China (USD744 million), Australia (USD664 million), Singapore (USD546 million), and South Korea (USD504 million).

Collectively, the other markets across the region accounted for USD758 million or 16% of total hotel investment volume. 

Capital deployed in the first half of 2025 represented a 23% decline compared to the same period in 2024, reflecting a more cautious investment environment amid ongoing global macroeconomic uncertainty. Investors have gravitated to safe-haven markets, while decision-making timelines have lengthened. At the same time, the bid-ask spread between seller expectations and buyer valuations has also widened, with sellers holding firm on price expectations and buyers applying greater scrutiny, leading to extended due diligence periods on both sides of transactions.

JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Asia Pacific Executive Vice President, Investment Sales, Pimpanga Yomchinda said: “In Thailand, the hotel investment market continues to demonstrate healthy liquidity, with domestic buyers dominating transactions. We expect investment volume to exceed USD650 million (THB20 billion) by the year-end, with Bangkok remaining the country’s most sought-after market.”

Key gateway cities demonstrated varied performance, with the majority of the main markets showing higher ADR than pre-pandemic levels. 

Tokyo recorded over 80% occupancy, slightly below pre-pandemic levels but improving year-over-year, while ADR significantly exceeded 2019 figures and continued growing. 

Singapore maintained stable occupancy compared to last year, with ADR surpassing 2019 but declining slightly from the previous year. Sydney demonstrated occupancy trends at nearly 80%, while ADR remained flat compared to last year. 

Similarly, Bangkok hotels demonstrated resilient performance with ADR significantly exceeding previous peaks, despite tourist arrivals declining 6.3% year-over-year in the first seven months, with the latest official arrival targets set at 35.5 million tourists.

“Coming off a high base last year, the level of investment moderation is indicative of a more cautious investment market whereby a realignment of capital sources in the hotel investment landscape is occurring,” said JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Asia Pacific CEO Nihat Ercan.

“In our interactions, although institutional investors remain selective, private capital is moving decisively to secure prime hospitality assets that offer both defensive income characteristics and growth potential, which should ensure an uptick in activity in this year and into next.”

According to JLL analysis, private equity firms have increased their capital allocations to hospitality assets, with a 6% year-over-year rise in investment volumes. This shift represents strategic positioning to capitalise on market dislocations and potentially undervalued assets in key gateway markets.

Additionally, High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) from within the region have emerged as increasingly active buyers in H1 2025, seeking portfolio diversification through hotel investments, with capital invested into hotels growing by 54% from the same period last year.

The outlook for the region’s hospitality industry remains positive in the long term, driven by solid fundamentals. International tourist arrivals across the Asia Pacific increased by 12% in Q1 2025 compared to the same period last year, driving a supportive growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) across the region. This performance improvement has bolstered investor confidence in the sector’s recovery trajectory.

Total hotel transaction volume across Asia Pacific is projected to reach USD12.8 billion for the full year 2025, representing about 5% increase from 2024. This forecast anticipates accelerated investment activity in the second half of the year as the backlog of deals in due diligence is expected to settle during the second half of the year, says JLL.

Liquidity is expected to remain strong in the traditional markets of Japan, Australia, Greater China, Singapore and South Korea. Markets like Vietnam and Malaysia should benefit from strong tourism momentum.

“The final six months of 2025 present compelling entry points for strategic investors looking to deploy active capital,” says Ercan. “Encouragingly, we anticipate private equity funds, family offices, and regional operators with access to private capital to emerge as the most active buyers through year-end as they capitalise on assets requiring operational expertise to maximise value.”