Hotel investment market: best start to the year since 2022

As in the same quarter of the previous year, sales were distributed fairly evenly among the size segments up to €100 million, although the category above €100 million was once again unoccupied. Overall, the market is still quite fragmented. To date, the most investments have been made in properties with a volume of between €10 million and €25 million (34%), followed by smaller hotels up to €10 million (26%). The considerable absolute increase in sales in these size classes compared to the previous year is encouraging. Deals between €25 million and €50 million contribute a similar amount as in the previous year, but only account for a share of 22% due to the overall higher turnover. The same applies to the segment between €50-100 million, which contributes 18%.

In a geopolitical environment marked by uncertainty, the hotel investment market is once again extremely robust. It is receiving tailwind from the demand side. Booming domestic tourism and increased interest from travelers from abroad have set a new nationwide record for overnight stays in 2025. Likewise, important key figures such as occupancy rates and room rates have recovered noticeably since the Corona kink and are presenting themselves in their old strength.

On the other hand, supply in the new-build segment, which has traditionally contributed significantly to investment volume, has been more limited in recent years than before the coronavirus pandemic, as many projects have been postponed or completely postponed as a result. However, due to the positive signals from the user markets, the project volume is likely to expand somewhat in the coming months, which could also have a sales-boosting effect. Fortunately, the volume of projects under construction has already increased in the first quarter compared to the end of the year.

"At the same time, geopolitical disputes and the resulting inflation risks, as well as the recently more volatile capital market environment, remain influencing factors that can temporarily slow down price discovery and transaction activity. Nevertheless, the robust operating key figures suggest that the hotel investment market is on a solid foundation. From today's perspective, a transaction volume at least in the range of the previous year's result is therefore realistic at the end of the year," says Alexander Trobitz.