Hotels brace for pain of worsening US-China trade war as consumers likely to cut non-essential spending

• Hotel occupancy rates and ­revenues in the first quarter show the impact on consumer discretionary spending.

Hotel occupancy rates and revenues in Asia-Pacific fell in the first quarter as the worsening US-China trade war dented consumer confidence, according to a report by property agency Colliers International.

Revenue per available room, a key measure of hotel performance, dropped 7.2 per cent year on year in the first three months while overall occupancy rates ­decreased to 67.4 per cent, the report found.

“It is evident that the recent ­escalation in the trade dispute and the political impasse between the US and China is starting to weigh on business and consumer confidence, thereby tempering demand growth,” said Govinda Singh, executive director for ­valuation and advisory in Asia at ­Colliers and the report’s ­author.

The figures show the impact on consumer discretionary spending of a worsening economic outlook brought about by the increasingly bitter trade war.