Marga Manlapig

C9 Hotelworks founder and managing director Bill Barnett took the floor on Day 2 of the 2026 South East Asia Hotel Investors’ Summit (SEAHIS) in Bangkok to discuss recent developments in the Asian branded residences sector. Barnett pointed out that the sector is seeing significant growth in the post-pandemic era, mostly driven by the development boom that kicked off in 2022 and evolving customer demographics.

STR area director in the Asia Pacific Jesper Palmqvist cited the way hospitality and the related investment scene in the region are shifting in the face of current circumstances during his session at the South East Asia Hotel Investors’ Summit (SEAHIS) in Bangkok on Monday, 15th June. Palmqvist presented attendees with a by-the-numbers breakdown of regional development, emphasising APAC’s resilience which has helped deliver stronger rate growth than anywhere else in the world.

Whenever hospitality within the Asia-Pacific is discussed, the players moving on the board are invariably major tourism hubs like Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia, then Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea to the East. But the Land Down Under could give these giants a run for their money: the Antipodean nation is rapidly rising as a location of interest for hospitality investors.