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Overall sentiment in the serviced apartment sector has softened slightly since November 2018, as leisure demand experienced a dip, according to the latest Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP)/ Savills sentiment survey.
According to the results, 46.5% of respondents stated they were “slightly to significantly more optimistic”, a slight dip from the 50% recorded in November.
Despite a softening in sentiment over the six months period, the survey which was taken in June, was the strongest on record in terms of percentage of respondents stating they are “significantly” more optimistic for the following 12 months: 23.3% compared to 20.5% in June 2018.
Although there was a slight dip in leisure demand, this was against a backdrop of improving demand from corporate guests which now account for a larger share of demand (67.1%).
Alongside this optimism the survey also revealed that the share of respondents stating they are accelerating expansion plans is also the highest of any survey at 46.5%.
Marie Hickey, director in the commercial research team at Savills, said: “Serviced apartments have long been growing in popularity for corporate travellers, providing them with longer term staying options and a stronger sense of autonomy than hotels. This return in demand against a backdrop of wider economic uncertainty will further bolster operator’s existing expansion plans, reflected in the survey.”
Further highlights from the survey include:
- The demand from corporate guests is pushing up the length of average stay to 39.3 days. This increased to 43 days for those respondents who record over 50% of their demand from corporate guests. For those with the majority of demand from leisure guests, the average length of stay was 23.8 days.
- Over the next 6 months, the majority of demand is expected to continue to come from UK visitors (44%) and the share of European, Asia-Pacific and North American visitors are all expected to increase over the next six months.
James Foice, CEO at ASAP, added: “It’s very motivating to see an increase in confidence from our members, which complements the growth in rising corporate demand, along with the speed of operators’ expansion plans and the increasing length of each individual guest stay.
“This is truly an exciting time to be representing serviced apartments and aparthotels, and we look forward to another successful year for our sector.”
