Home Insights Real estate 2025 European hotel market outlook

Macroeconomic overview: Investors should price in sustained growth in 2025

The global economy is showing remarkable stability, supported by disinflationary trends, easing monetary policy, and a record number of working people in the world.

A clearer inflation and interest rates environment sets the basis for private equity real estate bid-ask spreads to narrow, capital values to stabilize, and deal flow to accelerate. Thus, we expect the turn of the year to mark a gradual transition from contraction to recovery. While some headwinds remain, they are easing. We believe sectors with positive structural drivers, markets with supply demand imbalance, and quality assets will be the hallmark of successful portfolio construction.

Hotel investment outperformed despite macroeconomic headwinds

European hotels have bucked the trend and proved more resilient than most of the other property types, driven by a resurgence in tourist numbers and above inflation operating performance. Indeed, European hotel capital flow in 2024 outpaced 2023, 2022, and the 10-year average. We expect to continue to see capital focusing on hospitality supported by solid growth in tourism and leisure demand.

European hotels has gained traction among global investors

Hotel investment share of total European property volume reached an all-time high in 2024 with investors increased their exposure to the European hotel sector amid favorable operational performance and a positive short and medium-term outlook. Indeed, the European hotel share of total property volume reached 12% in 2024, the highest annual percentage ever recorded. A further testament to the growing investors appetite can be seen in JLL’s hotel investor sentiment survey: A record 80% of investors intend to maintain or increase their capital investment in the hotel sector in 2025, the highest share since the survey began in 2000.

European hotel investment volume as share of total European property volume

European hotel investment volume increasing since 2011 and hitting an all-time high in 2024

Source: MSCI, JLL, Principal Real Estate, Q4 2024.

Opportunity

COVID was a major shock whose effects are still being felt. Following COVID, the trading market in European hotels has recovered but the challenges for some owners, especially smaller owners, have remained. Many came through COVID times by taking on more debt and in the recent higher interest rate period this has increased financial strains. In this environment we see opportunity for sophisticated investors with a track record in hotels to capitalise on the market and acquire well-located assets at historically low pricing. Repositioning those assets into current strong trading conditions has the potential to result in attractive returns.

What do hotel innovators look like?

With information available at a click of a button, the rise of social media, technological innovations, growth in travel, innovative products and brands have emerged to cater to the changing needs of today's travelers whilst larger hotel groups have been less agile and slower to adapt. Investors looking at the hotel market today may want to consider focusing on the types of hotels outlined below.

Digital brands and operations as a future innovation of the hotel industry

Digital brands

  • Fully digitalised hotel operations, hotel significantly reducing operating cost
  • Offer services via smartphone apps
  • Lower operating costs = higher rents. Can profitablilty operate smaller hotels where traditonal models cannot
Hybrid hospitality and how they cater to segments as a future innovation of the hotel industry

Hybrid Hospitality

  • Blends hotel with other property types/demand drivers creating unique offering
  • Synergies from non-hotel element dive performance
  • Cater to a demand segment/demographic with offering gap
Lifestyle brands and design aesthetics as a future innovation of the hotel industry

(True) Lifestyle Brands

  • Focus on food & beverage, design, aesthetics, and attracting locals to create life in the lobby & place people want to be
  • Attractive, ’trendy’ environment increases room rates
  • Create higher revenue and profit per sqm vs. traditional hotel

Source: Principal Real Estate, December 2024. The recommendations above reflect our views on relative opportunities over a 12-month horizon. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon in any way as a forecast or guarantee of future events regarding particular investments or the markets in general.

European hotels: A prime opportunity in 2025

After two years of correction, we feel confident that a gradual recovery has began, amid more accommodative monetary policy, lowering capital costs, and improved clarity on real estate pricing. European hotels has been one of the most resilient sectors over the last two years, and we believe it will continue to present a compelling investment case, amid strong fundamentals, widening supply-demand imbalance, and a positive long-term tourism outlook. European hotels represent one of our preferred choices for 2025 alongside global data centers, logistics, and residential sectors. In particular, we see an opportunity window to acquire and reposition underinvested but well-located hotel assets.

For a deeper dive into our perspective on the European hotel market for the next 12 months, please refer to our full 2025 European Hotel Outlook.

Real estate
Disclosure

Risk Considerations

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of Principal. Past Performance does not guarantee future return. All financial investments involve an element of risk. Therefore, the value of the investment and the income from it will vary and the initial investment amount cannot be guaranteed. Asset allocation and diversification do not ensure a profit or protect against a loss. Potential investors should be aware of the risks inherent to owning and investing in real estate, including value fluctuations, capital market pricing volatility, liquidity risks, leverage, credit risk, occupancy risk and legal risk. All these risks can lead to a decline in the value of the real estate, a decline in the income produced by the real estate and declines in the value or total loss in value of securities derived from investments in real estate. Data Center properties are only attractive to a unique type of tenant, so a limited tenant base increases the risk of vacancy. Additionally, a property designed to be a data center may be difficult to relet to another type of tenant or convert to another use. Thus, if operating a data center were to become unprofitable, the liquidation value of properties may be substantially less than would be the case if the properties were readily adaptable to other uses.

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MM14327 | 01/2025 | 4174335–012026

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