“ China ’ s economy has been on a knife-edge the last few years , ever since the real estate bubble started to rear its ugly head ,” said Tareq Bagaeen , who is a senior consultant with benchmarking firm HotStats and founder and

CEO of aQedina . “ The country ’ s economy is still growing — just not as fast as it had been .”

Although Marriott and Hilton adjusted their outlooks earlier in 2024 in response to a softening , industry experts see this slowdown as a blip , not a longer trend , due to temporary issues of a lagging recovery in domestic travel , particularly in second- and third-tier cities , and the limited number of international visitors .

After all , 2023 was a good year , Bagaeen noted . “ It was a solid constant with increased profitability across the board and across all asset classes .”

Still , there is the concern of a more pronounced hangover , but one that should dissipate as 2025 matures . “ China ’ s weakness appears to be a shorter-term impact that could last into next year potentially ,” said Michael Bellisario , director ,

senior research analyst , hotels , global brands and real estate at Baird Equity Research . “ The longer-run secular drivers for more travel and more spending are still intact and positive . Brands see the long-term growth potential of the country and the benefits of having more dots on the map to capture a greater share of intra-China travel , as well as more inbound international travel .”

42 hotelsmag . com Jan / Feb 2025