Mark Wynne-Smith, CEO for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels EMEA, said: “As corporate travel began to recover and investor confidence strengthened, last year marked the turning point for the EMEA hotel market. The year started off revitalized with a 36 percent increase in investment volumes in Q1 year-on-year and continued to accelerate throughout the course of 2010.”

The report identifies five key trends that shaped 2010, first being a relief for hoteliers. During 2010 the European hotel market experienced an improvement in both occupancy and average room rates, the report reads.

As trading fundamentals improved in most markets, room yields across Europe increased on average by nearly 10 percent, according to STR Global. However, despite the positive results at year end, room yields in almost all markets remained below peak levels in 2007. “Only Frankfurt, London and Munich proved to be an exception to this rule. Market conditions proved more challenging for hoteliers in regional cities, the majority of which depend on domestic tourism demand. While trading fundamentals also strengthened, the level of increase has generally been more subdued,” Wynne-Smith commented.

As investor confidence intensified, portfolio activity became more pronounced during 2010 reaching 2.8 billion euros, 37 percent of the total volume, according to the report. Single asset activity was largely driven by several trophy assets appearing on the market and attracting strong investor interest in particular from Asian and Middle Eastern high net worth individuals. Wynne-Smith said: “While overall investment volumes increased substantially, the level of new liquidity entering the market was limited. Many deals included a transfer of the debt already linked to the asset. 2010 saw the induction of debt transfer sales, which involved reassigning debt with limited fresh equity being invested.” The lack of new financing also resulted in deal sizes remaining small; just over 70 percent of all transactions had a purchase price below 50 million euros, while only seven deals were recorded with a price tag above 200 million euros.

According to the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels report, the majority of investors were firmly focused on gateway cities, with London and Paris firm favorites. Across the U.K., investment volumes reached 2.4 billion euros, compared to only 400 million euros in 2009 with London accounting for over 80 percent. “The U.K. capital has proved to be one of the best performing hotel markets in the recent downturn and seemed to fit the bill for investors who continued to search for some level of security in the market. A similar picture was apparent in France, with nearly 85 percent of investment taking place in Paris,” Wynne-Smith said.

The availability of trophy assets in 2010 attracted a number of international buyers, eager to take advantage of “one-off” opportunities, according to the report. Although the majority of transactions were funded by European or domestic capital, Asian capital more than doubled, accounting for 12 percent of investment. Wynne-Smith Sid that outside of the “prime buys,” investors mainly concentrated on assets offering a long term fixed income or low step-in price, adding, “Approximately one quarter of all deals recorded in 2010 [based on volume] included a lease contract, while another quarter changed hands unencumbered and only 10 of the deals recorded were subject to a management contract.”

With travel patterns steadily returning to historic levels and a subdued supply pipeline, trading performance is anticipated to strengthen further in 2011 but the pace of recovery may slow down later in the year. According to the report, the first quarter is likely to show strong year on year growth and this will continue into second quarter, which was adversely affected by the ash cloud in 2010. Growth will, nevertheless, be driven by occupancy as travelers continue to focus on cutting costs, prohibiting hoteliers from substantially increasing average room rates other than during peak demand times. Those markets that have already experienced an uplift in occupancy during 2010 may well experience stable performance in the coming year, the report read.

Wynne-Smith concluded that they expect market performance in 2011 to be built upon the strong market dynamics of 2010, although the structure of the market is likely to change substantially. “While the previous year was characterized by a number of rare opportunities in main gateway cities, 2011 is not on course to see the same level of trophy assets enter the market,” he said. 2011 is set to see a growing number of secondary assets becoming available as financial institutions concentrate on releasing capital. “The U.K., Spain and Ireland are expected to generate the bulk of this activity. The market poses a risk of a double dip in pricing if assets are not discharged gradually.”