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European hotel transactions have reached a five-year high in the first half of 2024, according to new data from Cushman and Wakefield.
Transactions in the first half of the year grew to over €11.6bn (£9.78bn), the highest six-month volume since 2019.
In the second quarter, European hotel transaction volumes hit €5.8bn (£4.89bn), nearly double the level reached at the same time last year (€3.0bn (£2.53bn) in Q2 2023).
According to Cushman and Wakefield, volumes were boosted by several landmark hotel transactions, including the sales of the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel, the Hilton Paris Opera, Six Senses London, the Shelbourne Hotel Dublin, and the Park Hyatt Zürich.
Overall, luxury hotels represented nearly half of H1 2024 volumes.
The UK, Spain and France were the most active markets, accounting for €7.8bn (£6.58bn) of transactions – over two thirds of the European total, and 62% more than H1 2023.
London registered the highest hotel transaction volumes of €2.6bn (£2.19bn) by city, with Paris at €1.1bn (£930m) , Dublin, €543m (£457.8m), Barcelona €364m (£306.9m) and Rome €238m (£200.6m) completing the top five.
Looking ahead, volumes are projected to exceed €20bn (£16.8bn) in 2024, driven by increasing debt liquidity and strong hotel performance.
Jon Hubbard, head of Hospitality, EMEA at Cushman and Wakefield, said: “The trading performance of European hotels experienced a ‘Taylor Swift bounce’ in the first half of this year, with high customer demand partly linked to the major events that took place across the continent, such as Euro 2024, the Olympic Games, and Swift’s Eras tour.
“On investment, the sharp pick-up in activity has been long awaited and reflects not only clear confidence in the hotel sector, but more importantly an alignment of pricing between vendors and purchasers. With the recent reduction in base rates, now is the time for investors to step back into the market to take advantage of expected performance and capital growth.”
Frederic Le Fichoux, head of Hotel Transactions, EMEA at Cushman and Wakefield, added: “A relatively high number of hotels are in various stages of divestment across the continent, primarily in the core markets of Western Europe, but we also see a restart of the transaction activity in the Central, Eastern and South Eastern regions.
“This trend is driven by improved access to financing and attractive yields in the hotel sector, which peaked in 2023 and have since stabilised over the past two quarters. Coupled with robust income growth, this has created a favourable environment for both sellers and buyers to engage in transactions.”
