Addressing the mixed F&B and MICE Performance across Asia
- GAS
- 1 day ago
- 16 min read
Updated: 8 hours ago
What is happening?
The post-pandemic recovery of hotel Food & Beverage (F&B) and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) business in Asia has been uneven. While parts of Southeast Asia have bounced back strongly, markets such as Hong Kong, Japan, and Mainland China are still lagging in F&B and event revenues. For hotels where F&B is a much higher proportion of revenue than hotels in Europe or the US, driving profitability in this area of operations is of greater importance for investors in this region than elsewhere.
In this paper, we investigate the impact of increased cost pressures and variances in decisions to reopen markets to international travel. Drawing on data and expert insight we analyse the region’s performance and look to strategic operational changes hotels can make to capitalise on changing tastes and neutralise.
Before and after the Pandemic
Asia shows a variety of trends and opportunities in 2025, against a backdrop of mixed post-pandemic recovery. Countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia were experiencing high profit margins in the F&B sector, even exceeding pre-pandemic levels, according to data from Hotstats.
In mid-2024, Hotstats reported that Australia’s F&B profit margins had edged up from 8.4% in 2023 to 8.5% in 2024 (a modest gain). Despite challenging conditions, operators are managing to absorb cost pressures rather than collapse. However, the margins remain low, underscoring vulnerabilities such as labour cost inflation, staffing shortages, rising input prices, and cautious consumer spending.
CreditorWatch’s April 2024 Business Risk Index highlights this fragility: hospitality businesses (food and beverage services) face the highest failure risk of any sector, with a 7.45% probability of collapse—roughly one in 13 firms— as B2B payment defaults hit record highs. The major challenge is exposure to discretionary consumer spending, which has dried up under mounting cost-of-living pressures.
For investors, this signals cautious optimism: the market has avoided collapse but remains vulnerable to further stress.
The group said:
“Challenges persist in Hong Kong and Japan. Unlike Australia, these markets show stagnation or regression from pre-pandemic peaks. Hong Kong’s F&B margin remains around 23%, while Japan’s edges to 24%—yet both still lag their 2019 benchmarks (HotStats).
But Hong Kong’s static margin masks a deeper shift: many hotel restaurants are under strain, while independent, lighter F&B formats—grab-and-go, standalone eateries, shared kitchens, smaller shopfronts—are rising in relevance. Restaurants with large fixed cost bases are seeing closures, while expediting smaller formats allows operators to manage overheads more flexibly.”
The Cost of F&B (F&B Profit Margin – 2024 YTD vs same time last year)
F&B revenues were increasing across the region, led by urban hotels and a return of domestic tourism and social gatherings. The issue for Asia is one not of rising revenues as much as it is one of rising costs and their impact on profits. Labour costs have continued to build since 2019 and food price inflation, driven in part by climate change, is having an impact on margins.
The latest Skift report, The State of Travel 2024, predicted strong global expansion for the MICE sector, with an estimated Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9% in market size (USD) from 2024 to 2032. Skift identifies key trends influencing Meetings and Incentive Travel in 2024, including remote work arrangements, AI adoption, environmental consciousness, political factors affecting events, and budget constraints.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s path to recovery following its prolonged pandemic restrictions has been steady rather than spectacular. Having been largely sealed off for nearly three years with stringent quarantine measures of up to three weeks for arrivals, borders only fully reopened in early 2023. Since then, growth momentum has gradually returned across tourism and consumer sectors. Tourism rebounded rapidly through 2023 and 2024. By mid-2024, visitor arrivals had surpassed half of pre-COVID levels, with full-year arrivals still around 32% below 2018. Overnight stays showed a narrower 25% deficit, reflecting improving confidence among travellers. Short-haul regional markets, excluding Mainland China demonstrated the strongest rebound, with arrivals only 9% below 2018 and overnight spending just 3% lower.
The MICE segment has solidified its role as a key driver of high-value travel to Hong Kong. MICE visitors are a high value-added segment—in 2024, the city recorded approximately 1.42 million overnight MICE visitors, a 10% year-on-year increase, representing around 72% of the 2018 peak of 1.97 million, which was an all-time high at the time. Their average per capita spending reached HK$7,800, around 40% higher than the overall overnight visitor average of HK$5,490, underscoring their economic importance. MICE travellers stayed an average of 3.7 nights, longer than the overall average stay of 3.2 nights.
According to Phoebe Shing, Director of the Tourism Board and Business Development Team Lead for MICE, Hong Kong has successfully secured and supported 56 large-scale MICE events in 2025, including 16 debut events. These span key sectors such as innovation and technology, fintech, medical science and aviation, and are expected to attract around 170,000 MICE visitors from both the Mainland and overseas, with total participation projected to reach 260,000.
By 2025, however, the pace of growth has moderated. The food and beverage sector, a key indicator of tourism and local sentiment, has plateaued. Total restaurant receipts reached HK$109.4 billion in 2024, flat year-on-year after a strong rebound the previous year. Analysts attribute this to more cautious local spending, increased outbound dining to Shenzhen, and pressure on traditional Chinese restaurants, whose receipts remain 24% below 2018 peaks. Despite these challenges, Hong Kong retains its status as a regional culinary capital, with 76 Michelin-starred restaurants as of September 2025 including seven with three stars.
Looking forward, the city’s economic and tourism outlook remains cautiously optimistic. Continued investment in talent attraction, digital infrastructure, and visitor experience—especially within dining and hospitality—will be crucial to sustaining momentum and ensuring Hong Kong’s competitiveness as Asia’s leading gateway city.
Mainland China
A striking new trend has emerged in China’s hospitality sector: five-star hotels setting up food stalls on the street. At Yonghe Bojue International Hotel in Zhengzhou, the stall opens at 5 p.m., yet queues begin forming half an hour earlier. Lines can stretch over 20 meters, with daily sales reaching around RMB 30,000 (USD 4,100). What might appear as a quirky marketing experiment is, in fact, a response to mounting structural pressure on hotel F&B.
The numbers tell the story. Average F&B revenue at full-service upscale hotels in 2024 fell to RMB 10.21 million (USD 1.42 million) — a 38% drop compared to 2019.
Policy has intensified the downturn: in an attempt to rein in bureaucratic excess and promote frugality, China has banned alcohol and lavish banquets among government staff. No alcohol or cigarettes at dining tables, no lavish banquets, no luxury fittings or interiors in official vehicles, and no ornamental plants or backdrops at work meetings.
This promoted austerity provoked the plunge of dining and banquet revenues. In some regions, high-end restaurants report a 60–80% collapse in alcohol sales and revenue losses exceeding 50%. This shock has been compounded by a shrinking luxury hotel base — five-star properties declined from 845 in 2019 to just 736 by Q3 2024.
Japan
The country’s travel industry exploded into recovery after reopening, with the Japanese Tourist Board predicting that Japan would see 40.2 million visitors in 2025, an 8.9% increase over 2024’s estimate of 36.9 million and a 26.1% increase relative to 2019. The country is set to hit the government’s goal of 60 million visitors a year by 2030.
STR reported that Tokyo hotel performance was expected to come close to 2019 levels by the end of 2025 and has already shown signs of inflation-adjusted growth by 2024, as the new hotel pipeline remains reasonably balanced compared to existing supply, especially compared to markets in Asia as a whole.
Singapore
Singapore has demonstrated gradual but steady improvements in its F&B profit margins, rising from 26.6% in 2023 to 27.5% in 2024. The market is on a positive trajectory, making it attractive for those looking to capitalise on growth potential in Southeast Asia.
In 2023, Singapore reported good news with 2023 marking 13.6 million international visitor arrivals and $27.2bn (USD 20.1bn) in tourism receipts – almost a full recovery to 2019 numbers.
The city state sought to capitalise on this, with the Singapore Tourist Board unveiling a new global marketing campaign to position Singapore as the “World’s Best MICE City”.
Yap Chin Siang, deputy chief executive at STB, said,
“Positioning Singapore as the World’s Best MICE City is integral to our ambition to maintain a competitive edge, and to reinforce Singapore’s strengths. This is especially critical as MICE event organisers and delegates seek destinations that deliver value and drive positive impact. We remain committed to invest in new MICE products and experiences, and we invite event organisers and planners to co-create business events with us that yield meaningful outcomes.”
Singapore’s wider hotel industry has shown strong recovery post-pandemic, with occupancy (OCC), average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR) steadily improving. After a sharp decline in 2020, when OCC fell to 57.3% and RevPAR to SGD89, the sector rebounded in 2022 as travel resumed. By 2023, OCC reached 80.5%, with both ADR and RevPAR exceeding 2019 levels at SGD273 and SGD219, respectively. In 2024, performance further improved, with OCC at 81.8% and RevPAR rising to SGD226.
Looking ahead, Singapore’s hotel industry is expected to see steady growth, supported by strong international demand, major events, and government initiatives to increase the country’s appeal as a destination.
Controlling costs and Protecting margins
Margin control in hotel F&B in Asia is a balance of maintaining the high quality that guests expect, while attempting to offset rising labour costs and food price inflation.
Hotel F&B leaders across Asia have deployed a variety of strategies to protect (or rebuild) profit margins in the face of rising costs:
Streamlining Menus and Operations: Many hotels reduced the complexity of their F&B offerings, with shorter menus, fewer venues open all day, and more efficient staffing models. By concentrating on their most popular and profitable dishes, F&B teams can cut down on costly ingredients and waste. For example, hotels have dropped underperforming menu items and optimised recipes to use common ingredients across dishes (to gain bulk purchasing efficiencies). Some properties also limited restaurant hours on quieter days and shifted from lavish breakfast buffets to a la carte or semi-buffet formats, trimming labour and food waste while maintaining guest satisfaction.
Sourcing locally: Many are also sourcing more ingredients locally to reduce import costs – e.g. using local farms for produce and meats, or partnering with nearby fisheries for fresh seafood. This not only cuts costs but supports a sustainability narrative. Some hotels in Asia formed partnerships with local artisanal suppliers to get unique products (like single-origin coffee, craft beer) at negotiated rates, differentiating their menus without overspending.
Negotiating Supply: To combat food cost inflation, hotels are leveraging their scale in procurement. Regional hotel chains have centralised purchasing to negotiate better bulk rates for everything from liquor to food.
Multi-tasking teams: Hotels have cross-trained F&B staff to handle multiple roles (server, barista, host) so that leaner teams can still deliver service at brand standards.
Waste reduction: Many hotels introduced rigorous waste reduction programmes: tracking buffet leftovers, composting kitchen trim, and adjusting production forecasts daily. Cutting food waste directly bolsters margins, essentially turning what would be trash back into revenue. Asia-Pacific hotels are prioritising technology that improves efficiency and reduces consumption/waste as they invest in 2025, underscoring how crucial cost control has become.
The region’s F&B continues to act as a draw to travellers, and it is critical that hotels do not let standards drop. In the Future of Food Report 2025, Oriol Montal, managing director of luxury for Asia Pacific excluding China, Marriott, emphasised that gastronomy has become a powerful driver of travel choices worldwide and currently we are seeing that dining has become a core element of the tourism experience. He also added that Marriott continues to advance its gastronomic vision alongside broader F&B industry developments, with a clear focus on creating guest experiences that celebrate the region’s rich cultural heritage, distinctive flavours, and culinary techniques.
Petr Raba, Vice President of Food & Beverage for Asia Pacific (excluding China) at Marriott International, noted that the company is not merely following F&B trends but helping to shape them. He highlighted Marriott’s ongoing investment in immersive dining concepts, sustainable initiatives, and innovative technologies designed to elevate its restaurant and bar offerings across the region. Through these efforts, Marriott aims to enhance guest experiences while contributing to the continued evolution of the global culinary landscape.
Staying ahead of trends
Consumer tastes have evolved, with a focus on value and an emphasis on digital. Many properties have made strategic changes to their F&B concepts to adapt to tighter margins and shifting guest expectations:
Repositioning and Concept Refreshes: Some hotels have overhauled underperforming outlets by changing the concept or theme to better resonate with the current market. For example, a formal fine-dining venue might be converted into a more casual, social space that attracts local younger patrons. We’ve seen hotels adopt trends such as Korean BBQ, regional street-food-inspired menus to refresh their offerings.
Local markets: Hotels have often repositioned with local guests in mind, recognising that residents can provide a steady F&B income stream beyond tourists.
Partnerships: Hotels have partnered with popular local restaurants or celebrity chefs to operate a pop-up or joint outlet on the property, making the hotel a dining destination for locals. This not only increases revenue but can also save costs by outsourcing some F&B operations to specialty operators.
Digital Menus and Contactless Dining: The pandemic accelerated digital adoption, and hotels have embraced this. Digital menus and QR code ordering are now commonplace in Asian hotels. By switching to app-based menus, hotels can update prices and offerings in real-time (e.g. adjust for ingredient costs or promote items they need to move), and they save on printing costs. More importantly, digital menus often lead to higher guest spend per visit: they allow use of enticing food imagery and suggestive selling (pop-ups that recommend a cocktail or side dish) to upsell customers. Some hotels report that digital menu boards and tablet ordering have lifted revenue as guests explore more options and order additional items – all with less need for staff intervention. Mobile ordering also addresses labour challenges: guests can self-order from their table, pool lounge chair, or room, freeing teams to focus on food delivery and service touches. In-room dining has been revamped similarly – many hotels now have guests scan a QR code to order room service, leading to more efficient service and less phone staffing. These tech-driven approaches both enhance convenience (which today’s guests appreciate for safety and speed) and help the bottom line through labour optimisation and potential upselling.
Delivery & takeaway: Recognising that during COVID many people relied on takeaway, some luxury hotels started offering gourmet takeaway and delivery options – a trend that has continued. For instance, hotels launched “chef’s at-home dinner” kits, premium mooncake deliveries for Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, or afternoon tea sets to-go. These initiatives opened new revenue channels beyond the physical outlets.
Healthy options: Menus include healthier options, in line with wellness trends. By adjusting concepts – say, turning one outlet into a health-oriented café or incorporating plant-based dishes into banquets – hotels are aligning with guest values and capturing emerging demand pockets.
Experiential dining: Guests are looking for something different and memorable. In the Le Meridien Hong Kong, guests can experience a unique sensory journey at Dans le Noir? Hong Kong, dining in total darkness and rediscovering flavours ‘without preconceptions’. The group said: “This immersive experience challenges your senses and fosters authentic human connection.”
Ultimately, those hotels that innovated their F&B concepts early in the recovery are reaping rewards: they have attracted media attention, won over locals, and often uncovered new revenue streams. The willingness to adapt – whether via digital transformation or reimagining a restaurant’s identity – has become a hallmark of the industry’s survivors. As the region moves forward, expect hotels to keep evolving their F&B playbook, blending tradition with new twists to delight a growing clientele.
Weddings and Banquets
Weddings and banquets have historically been a core revenue stream for hotels in the region. Pre-2020, in many full-service Asian hotels, it was not uncommon for banquet/catering revenue (including weddings) to account for 30–50% of total F&B revenue. In China, lavish wedding banquets (often 40+ tables) and government events kept hotel ballrooms busy. This all changed abruptly in 2020 when lockdown reduced this business to zero.
Over the last five years, the proportion of F&B revenue from banqueting and weddings has gradually climbed back as in-person events returned.
2020–2021: Large events were either illegal or heavily restricted in most places. Hotels pivoted to small-scale gatherings or repurposed event spaces for other uses (some turned ballrooms into socially-distanced breakfast venues or even vaccination centre). Banquet revenue that did occur came from micro-weddings or hybrid events, contributing only a small fraction of the usual. In these years, restaurants (serving in-house guests or offering takeout) made up a higher share of F&B revenue by necessity.
Earlier forecasts suggested that around 75% of hotels expected their MICE and wedding business to meet or exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2024, pointing to a strong rebound in banquet-driven F&B.
But the reality in 2025 looks very different. Hospitality remains under severe stress: in Beijing, profits in the accommodation sector plunged nearly 93% year-on-year in the first half of 2025. Inside dining has weakened sharply — private rooms sit underutilized, average spend per guest has fallen, and alcohol bans have further eroded banquet revenues. In some regions, high-end restaurants have seen a 60–80% collapse in alcohol sales, driving overall F&B losses of more than 50%.
Instead of returning to banquet-led growth, five-star hotels are resorting to street food stalls to generate cash flow and visibility. This trend underlines a structural shift: traditional banquet and event revenues are no longer reliable, and operators are being forced to balance accessible, mass-appeal offerings with attempts to rebuild premium dining through Michelin- or Black Pearl-level concepts.
The share of F&B from banqueting is now approaching the pre-pandemic mix in many markets, though the composition of events may have shifted. Hotels have their ballrooms busy again – even if it requires more creative sales tactics to fill them and perhaps more flexibility on package pricing than before.
Off-peak revenue
Off-peak periods present an opportunity for F&B and MICE.
Weekday Dining Promotions: Many city hotels have introduced specials to draw diners on typically quiet Monday through Thursday nights. These range from themed buffet nights (e.g. a Mediterranean Mondays buffet at a discounted price), to ladies’ night specials, wine-pairing dinners in mid-week, or live entertainment on a Tuesday. For instance, some luxury hotels partner with spirit brands to host guest bartender nights or whiskey tastings mid-week, pulling in local professionals after work. Happy hour extensions, 1-for-1 deals, and collaborations with credit card companies (discounts for Amex or Visa cardholders on off nights) are tactics to incentivise visits during off-peak times. In Singapore, hotels often team up with banks or loyalty programmes to offer 30% off dining on weekdays, balancing out full houses on weekends with steady traffic on slower days.
Afternoon and Midday Innovations: Traditionally, lunch and afternoon time slots can be underutilised (especially in resorts or business hotels without external footfall). The concept of “daycation” packages has emerged – where locals can use the pool, spa, or a cabana for the day (when hotel guests are sparse) often bundled with an F&B credit for lunch or snacks. Afternoon tea has been elevated in many Asian hotels to a must-do activity, not just for tourists but locals celebrating occasions – with themed teas (e.g. fashion-themed high tea, holiday-themed tea) to draw interest year-round. Some hotels offer weekday brunches or high teas targeting demographics like retirees or work-from-home individuals looking for a treat, thereby turning a traditionally slow time into a small revenue generator.
Repurposing Event Spaces: Hotels are repurposing their event venues for alternate uses to bring in revenue. A notable trend is hosting community or pop-up events – for example, art exhibitions, weekend markets, or fitness classes in ballroom spaces during summers or off-season months. A hotel might host a farmer’s market in its garden on Sunday mornings, which brings in rental fees from vendors and drives traffic to the hotel’s brunch after shoppers stroll through. Another example: some hotels have leased space to film production or as photo shoot venues on low-occupancy days. While not classic F&B or MICE usage, these activities generate income in periods the ballroom would otherwise sit empty.
Non-traditional Segments: Hotels are also looking at segments that don’t follow the typical peak calendar. In Muslim-majority markets, Ramadan is usually a slow month for regular tourism, but smart hotels pivot to offer Ramadan iftar buffets each evening, drawing local families – effectively turning a quiet period into an F&B peak in its own right. Another segment is education and government – some hotels work with universities or government bodies to host training programs or workshops during off-peak seasons, ensuring base business. These events might not have the big budgets of corporate conventions, but they fill rooms and F&B outlets at times when corporate demand is low.
Hotels have become more entrepreneurial in driving their own demand. Over time, some of these off-peak activations may even become new peak traditions, further strengthening the hotel’s calendar.
Leveraging Technology
Technology is a key ally for hotels striving to boost F&B and MICE profitability. From streamlining operations to enhancing guest experience (and spending), hotels in Asia are increasingly deploying tech solutions to optimise their revenue:
Data-Driven Decision Making: Hotels now collect and analyse data on F&B sales, customer preferences, and event booking patterns more meticulously. Modern POS (point-of-sale) systems and CRM integrations allow F&B managers to see which menu items are most popular, what times restaurants are busiest, and even track guest feedback in real time. Using these insights, hotels can dynamically adjust offerings – for example, if data shows a certain dish isn’t selling, they’ll swap it out, or if weekend tea reservations are surging, they might raise the price of that high tea set. Data also informs targeted marketing: hotels use past guest data to send personalised dining promotions (e.g. a steak lover gets notified of a special wine-paired steak night). This precision helps maximise revenue opportunities and reduce wasted effort on broad, unfocused marketing. On the MICE side, hotels analyse booking inquiries and lost business reports to fine tune their pricing and packages, employing a yield-management mindset for event space (charging premium for high-demand dates, offering deals for low-demand periods).
Automation and Self-Service: To reduce labour costs and improve efficiency, many hotels have embraced automation in their F&B outlets. Tablet ordering systems, self-service kiosks, and mobile payment have become common. In Asia, where mobile usage is high, guests appreciate the convenience of scanning a QR code to order by phone – it’s quicker and reduces waiting for staff. Some busy hotel restaurants have even installed tabletop ordering devices. This not only cuts down on staffing needs per shift (one server can cover more tables when guests largely self-order) but also tends to increase order accuracy and throughput. Automation behind the scenes is also notable: kitchen automation like smart ovens, coffee machines with preset recipes, and even robotic chefs in some avant-garde hotels help maintain consistency and speed while saving on manpower. In banquets, software automates event orders and setup schedules, minimising mistakes that could cost money or upset clients.
Inventory Management and Cost Control Tech: Hotels are using specialised procurement and inventory software to keep food and beverage costs in check. These systems can automatically track inventory levels, issue alerts for reordering, and even suggest order quantities based on upcoming banquet events on the books. By tightly monitoring stock, hotels avoid over-purchasing (tying up cash in inventory) and can reduce spoilage. Some solutions integrate with supplier systems for price updates, helping purchasing managers react quickly to price changes or find alternate products if something becomes too costly. Additionally, food waste tracking technology is becoming a norm – for example, smart bins that weigh and log what’s being thrown out – giving chefs insights into where waste (and thus cost) can be cut, such as trimming portion sizes or improving prep methods.
Enhancing the Guest Experience (and Spend) with Tech: In MICE, technology is being used as a selling point to clients and a way to charge premium rates. Hotels now tout their high-tech credentials: like offering meeting apps for attendees, electronic signage, and audience interaction tools. One example is in Macao where integrated resorts boast some of Asia’s most technologically-advanced venues, featuring 360° projection screens and even hologram capabilities for hybrid meetings. Simpler tech like event-specific mobile apps (with agendas, speaker bios, chat features) or virtual tour software to showcase venues to planners remotely have also helped hotels secure business in a competitive market. Furthermore, tech has opened up new revenue streams such as selling virtual event services, or recording and streaming services for conferences – hotels can either charge for these or use them as value-adds to clinch deals.
Technology is an investment priority for Asia-Pacific hotels; guests enjoy frictionless service and personalisation, while hotels improve their bottom line through efficiency and incremental revenue.
Conclusion
The coming year will be crucial in determining how quickly lagging markets catch up. If consumer confidence improves in China, if Japan continues to welcome more visitors, and if Hong Kong successfully reasserts itself, Asia’s remaining F&B and MICE challenges will gradually dissipate. Even at 80-90% recovered, many businesses are now operating sustainably.
To move forwards from just ticking over and into profitability and growth, hotels must lean on the experience of specialist industry advisors, with knowledge spanning the economic cycle. Every hotel operation is different and while tactics such as leaning into the local population to drive F&B may work on one site, they may not work on another. For some properties, the answer may not lie in running F&B themselves at all: leasing space to specialist operators or partnering with renowned standalone brands such as Nobu or Zuma can transform F&B into a draw in its own right while de-risking operations. Ultimately, Success will be derived from a thorough understanding of your property.
Authors:
Alex Sogno
Chief Executive Officer
Global Asset Solutions
Ivan Suardi
Co-Founder & Partner
Italicum Concepts
Leanne Reddie
Chief Commercial Officer
Global Asset Solutions
Juan Manuel Gea
Corporate Business Manager
Global Asset Solutions
