Notable hotel trends, recent transactions, upcoming new projects and a summary of key market statistics for the Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

Our inaugural edition of Hotel Destinations Indian Ocean provides a snapshot of the four key hotel markets around the Indian Ocean: notable hotel trends, recent transactions, upcoming new projects and a summary of key market statistics for the Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

Two thousand picture-perfect tropical islands, mostly uninhabited, in gin-clear waters packed with more sealife than the average aquarium: welcome to the Maldives, a market where growth seems to know no bounds.

Last year international visitor arrivals hit one million with Asian demand significantly outpacing European demand for a third consecutive year. Fifteen resorts charge more than an average of USD 1,000 per night – little wonder investors are clamoring to get a piece of this paradise.

Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses Hotels, Resorts & Spas, has witnessed firsthand the Maldives boom. Fifteen years ago he oversaw an acquisition for Four Seasons, the first multinational operator to arrive to the islands. At that time the predecessor to the original Four Seasons hotel was run by a local operator and it took only a quarter of today’s room rates.

“The Maldives really is a special place and you can’t be anything but bullish about it as a market. The scenery, the water and the energy that comes with being on your own island are exceptional. The social interaction is unique. Some people don’t leave for two or three weeks, which is incredibly

relaxing. With the experiences available these days at resorts like Six Senses – yoga, diving, specialist wellness – there’s plenty to keep you occupied.”

Few tourist destinations are as geographically well positioned as the Maldives to benefit from both European wealth and the rapid economic growth of Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Bangkok are all within a four-and-a-half hour flight; Shanghai, Frankfurt, London and Moscow are fewer than 10 hours away.

An increase in domestic airport development, plus forty-four seaplanes serving 69 resorts, keep the final stage of the journey relatively pain-free.

The result is a growing and increasingly international clientele, with visitor numbers from Germany, India and the Middle East rising between 40 and 92 per cent in 2012 and 2013. Mainland China is making the biggest difference, soaring in recent years to now account for nearly a quarter of the market.

Transaction volumes in 2013 were further boosted by the arrival of major institutional investors, such as Blackstone and CDL Hospitality REIT, coupled with increasingly wide-reaching air access (33 international airlines serve 32 global destinations)

In December JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group sold the Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, one of the Maldives most luxurious resorts, to Singapore based CDL Hospitality Trusts for USD 59.6 million. I

n January of this year JLL advised on the sale of the USD 70 million Six Senses Laamu resort, set in one of the Maldives’ few undiscovered lagoons. Leisure Frontiers Limited, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Hotel Properties Limited, made the acquisition with Six Senses continuing to manage the resort.