IHIF EMEA 2025 roundup: global reorganisation

The theme of this year’s IHIF event was ‘own the moment’ and the mood of the gathering was of a sector whose moment has come, but was at risk of being destabilised by the current geopolitical environment.

We heard from delegates from all over the world, from the biggest brands to the largest investors and property owners, who all came together to share their thoughts on a segment which is coming to the fore as a mainstream asset class.

As the conference was being held, airlines were warning that US inbound travel was falling and the world was waiting for the Donald Trump’s ‘day of Liberation’ where tariffs were set to be imposed around the world. The dollar has already fallen on such concerns, putting US outbound travel in the same uncertain position as inbound.

People will travel more and more domestically. Not at the expense of international travel, but we have never seen more domestic travel than now. Sébastien Bazin, chairman & CEO, Accor

IHIF host Alexi Khajavi said: “Our industry is under attack”, as free movement, diversity and global trade were all undermined by the shifting strategies emanating from the White House.

However, while there were concerns, Alexander Börsch, chief economist at Deloitte Germany, spoke of new alliances being formed. He told delegates: The most popular narrative is that deglobalisation has taken hold. A second view is that ‘reglobalisation’ should be expected in the future. The third view, that of the IMF, is that we are in an era of fragmentation.

In this atmosphere, countries such as China were looking more attractive as trading partners and the hotel sector was seeing more trade between the EU and Asia.

This was reiterated by a study from JLL, which stated that regional performance will remain uneven. APAC is likely to see the largest growth, driven by the continued recovery of Chinese travellers following recent visa facilitation measures. Europe, which benefited from the Paris Olympics and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in 2024, may see more modest growth in 2025. Growth in the Americas is expected to be similarly subdued, with gateway cities benefiting from returning Asian travellers while resort performance normalises due to slowing discretionary spending.

Appetite from investors for the sector was unabated. Transactions are currently booming, with our most-recent report identifying total transaction volume for four and five-star hotels reaching €10.95bn last year, with 137 hotel transactions recorded. Investment appetite for luxury hotel assets continued into January, with 11 transactions recorded in the first month alone.

The UK, France, Spain and Italy were the most active hotel investment markets in 2024, accounting for over half of the total transaction volume across Europe. The UK (16.3%) and France (16.1%) led the market, with close to a third of all transactions.

At Global Asset Solutions we use our strategic experience and depth of operational knowledge to advise owners on when to hold and when to sell and we have driven multiple transactions in the market. We expect this year to be busy and are actively involved in marketing properties.

We see no sign of a slowdown, with competition strong for exceptional hotels and there was plenty of appetite for expansion from investors; both those looking for the best returns and those seeking to grow existing platforms and find new markets.

Talent remained a concern, with Charlotte Sweeney, founder, Charlotte Sweeney Associates, commenting that leaders wanted “to see change but thought it was difficult to see how they would do things differently”. Felicity Black-Roberts, SVP development Europe, Africa and Middle East, Hyatt Hotels Corporation added: “If we don’t grow people and allow them to grow through, and take people from a wide pool, the situation is only going to get worse.”

Technology was a talking point across the conference, both in terms of operations and delivering service. The role of AI is as debated in hotels as it is across the wider economy and we have seen some compelling examples of how it can be used to improve efficiency in operations as well as to create a smoother and more profitable development process.

We were interested to hear from a number of technology providers who have honed in on guest experience, a critical point of differentiation between hotels and between brands and one which can create that valuable lifetime loyalty all hotels crave.

In the luxury sector we believe in the value of the human touch, but the new wave of technology providers are ushering in an era of technology working in partnership with front-of-house teams to create personalised profiles which deliver exceptional experiences. Guests use their devices to communicate with service providers in all aspects of their lives, isn’t it real luxury to give them this option in hotels too?

Finally, the brands were well represented, with news of pipeline growth and launches of the latest flags the buzz of the event. We believe that brands can deliver a certain promise which, when executed properly, can improve the stay for the guest and add value to the property for the owner.

This year’s IHIF marked an ongoing movement towards franchising and away from operational participation by the brands, who, more than ever, are delivering a flag and a distribution platform, but little more.

Helping your property to reach its full potential is our goal at Global Asset Solutions and we pride ourselves on action, as well as advice. We think that a good asset manager creates a relationship of equals between owners and brands, with the hotel at its heart. It was exciting to hear about the new brands coming to the market and the potential to fill the niches in customer demand, from luxury city centre resorts to spas and wellness. Our sector is growing and expanding into new segments as well as new destinations and we look forward to working with these flags in the years to come.

If you’d like to get in touch to discuss anything you learned at this year’s IHIF, please reach out: [email protected].

About Global Asset Solutions

Global Asset Solutions operates worldwide providing independent hotel asset management services. Clients include PE firms, institutional investors, sovereign funds and family offices, with over $20bn of assets managed in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The company leans on decades of experience in the luxury sector to deliver bespoke solutions which allow investors to grow their asset value and realise the potential of their assets. www.globalassetsolutions.com