With service at its core, hospitality success embodies people, efficiency, and partnerships that sharpen profitability and enrich the guest experience.
In 2025, Hong Kong's hospitality market was buoyed by rising arrivals, a broader tourism base, and stronger occupancy. Yet the sector still had its challenges. Seasoned perspectives from Colliers' Senior Director of Hotel Advisory, Shaman Chellaram, anchors these shifts, and his appointment as judge for the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 - Hong Kong reflects his standing in the industry.
Given your extensive experience in hotel advisory, how do you perceive the current landscape of Hong Kong's travel and hospitality sector?
The sector is regaining momentum. Tourism is recovering strongly, with overall visitors up 12% to 45 million by the end of November 2025. Overnight visitors rose materially over the same period to 21 million with contributions from both Mainland China and broader international markets. Expanded flight connectivity, increasing short- and long-haul growth, and a rebound in cruise calls are broadening source‑market diversity. Operationally, rate pressure persisted in 2025 despite relatively strong occupancy, although October and November experienced a performance rebound, supported by a busy calendar of business, leisure, sporting events, and conferences. On a broader level, when compared with other global gateway cities such as London, New York and Paris, Hong Kong’s hotel landscape has significant runway in terms of rates. Investment activity picked up, with approximately HK$3 billion in transactions recorded between June and October 2025. These acquisitions focused on lifestyle and mid‑scale hotels for conversions to student accommodation or rebranding into modern boutique concepts. New upper‑upscale and lifestyle openings, such as the Kimpton Tsim Sha Tsui and Motto by Hilton SOHO, signal renewed confidence. At the same time, challenges around tightening operating margins, softer non-room revenues and labour shortages remain.
In advising owners and investors across diverse markets, what strategies have you found most effective in maximising property value and performance?
Over the last few years, hoteliers have focused on guest acquisition, operational efficiency and smarter space utilisation to boost revenue. Leading operators deepen guest engagement to build brand affinity and better anticipate needs, especially in luxury and lifestyle segments. They are refreshing and streamlining F&B concepts to elevate guest experience and remove underperforming outlets. AI and other technologies are increasingly deployed across front‑ and back‑of‑house to automate tasks, surface actionable guest insights, and increase productivity. Dynamic rate pricing and tighter revenue management capture willingness to pay during peaks whilst smoothing occupancy in soft windows. Owners who maintain a clear, forward‑looking capital expenditure plan protect their competitive position; those who delay upgrades face larger, more disruptive outlays later. Clear communication, lifecycle cost planning and continual optimisation of space, booking channels and services are the fastest ways to accelerate value and performance. Specific experience-driven marketing initiatives and collaborations, sustainability programmes and a focus on wellness are also proving effective. Investors are better aligning with experienced operators and joint-venture partners to underwrite deals, spread execution risk, minimise downside exposure and maximise returns.
How do local and cross-border acquisitions, disposals, and strategic partnerships influence the growth and competitiveness of the hospitality sector?
Acquisitions and strategic partnerships inject capital, new brands and fresh operating concepts into the market, increasing consumer choice and forcing incumbent operators to raise their game. These transactions accelerate knowledge transfer – international groups bring distribution, loyalty networks and scale; local players contribute market nuance and agility – resulting in better guest experiences across segments. Recent examples across Asia such as Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide's acquisition of Ace Group and Wyndham's partnership with Ovolo illustrate how operators are leaning into lifestyle positioning to broaden their appeal. In Hong Kong, recent market entrants like Kimpton in Tsim Sha Tsui and Motto by Hilton SOHO demonstrate how brands and positioning can reshape sub‑markets, intensify competition and expand product variety. The market is also seeing an increase in hybrid hotel-living concepts. Finally, capital flows across Asia reinforce a two‑tier market: prime CBD or resort assets command premium pricing and deeper buyer interest, whilst secondary locations often face a thinner investor pool and lower liquidity.
In your view, what qualities distinguish successful leaders in the travel and hospitality industry?
Clear vision and decisive execution, combined with agility, distinguish standout leaders. They build the right team and cultivate a family‑like service-focused culture for staff, driven by the ultimate goal of creating lasting memories and experiences for their guests and customers. Data fluency and thoughtful tech adoption underpin their decisions and improve efficiency. They share and cascade their vision, listening and delegating were appropriate and empower every role to contribute to its success. Strong leaders deliver positive business and social impact, navigate downturns, innovate and plan disciplined capital expenditure whilst maintaining a healthy operational budget to adapt across market cycles. They understand their target market, inspire their team, and demonstrate a clear ability to build a long-term financially sustainable business which delivers on guests' and stakeholders' needs.
Looking forward, what key developments do you anticipate shaping Hong Kong's travel and hospitality industry in the coming years?
The Hong Kong government launched its 'Tourism is Everywhere' initiative and Development Blueprint for the Tourism Industry 2.0 in late 2024, to boost the sector's contribution to the economy by 60% to HK$120b by 2029 and employment to 210,000, up 44% from 2023. As Hong Kong broadens its major international sporting, arts and music offerings and enhances cultural and nature‑based experiences, the city aims to entice visitors to stay longer. In only its first nine months of operation the city’s new Kai Tak Stadium has firmly placed itself amongst the top ticket sales venues in the world, highlighting the city’s positioning as a major events destination. Growth from higher‑spending source markets, notably the Middle East and other ASEAN countries, is already visible, and the market is adapting with tailored services and amenities. Policy moves to expand the yacht economy – more berths, repair facilities and supporting infrastructure – will create opportunities for hotels near marinas to offer ‘berth+stay’ packages, yacht concierge services, and premium F&B experiences that capture spillover spend. As terminal connectivity improves and regional cruises return, I expect a steady uptick in cruise calls that drive additional pre‑ and post‑embarkation hotel demand. More frequent events and deeper cross‑sector partnerships between hotels, marine and cultural operators will lengthen stays and drive average spend per visitor. In addition to curating tangible local experiences which visitors crave, Hong Kong's positioning as Asia's world city - being a leading global financial and family office centre, as well as an international arts trading hub - will spur business demand in the coming years.
As a judge for the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 - Hong Kong, what qualities or achievements do you consider most important when evaluating the nominees?
New ideas make a tangible positive impact when they are well-executed, delivered and adopted. In tourism, changes should enhance the guest experience across segments or improve operational and market efficiencies. We seek innovations that create seamless engagement and fond memories, deliver clear business and social benefits, and solve practical problems. Success looks like revenue growth, increased uptake or market share gains, backed by consistently high service standards, better reviews and repeatable on-the-ground excellence. Projects that scale or transfer across markets, sectors and brands earn special attention.
More about Shaman Chellaram
Shaman Chellaram is Senior Director of Hotel Advisory at Colliers, with 22 years' experience in real estate investment and advisory. He works across Hong Kong and key Asian and international urban and resort markets, leveraging Colliers regional and global network to advise owners and investors on acquisitions, disposals, and strategic partnerships. His clientele includes hotel and resort owners and operators, commercial and residential investors, serviced apartment, student accommodation and co-living groups, private equity funds, developers, real estate investment trusts, family offices, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Drawing on this breadth of engagement, he provides perspective on how hospitality assets adapt to shifting visitor demand and global investment trends through interviews, events, reports and articles. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute Hospitality Development Council (APAC) and Chair of the Real Estate Committee for the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
