New research from international real estate advisor Savills has revealed that New York has topped the ranking as the most attractive city globally for leisure and food and beverage (F&B) operators, followed by Seoul(2) and London(3).
The analysis from Savills explores major cities globally to examine the potential they offer for leisure and hospitality expansion, examining metrics such as spending power, tourism appeal, propensity for leisure and occupational costs.
Owing to its market size, the relative affluence of its population and disposable household incomes per capita, New York City topped the ranking as the leading global city. While it already offers one of the widest and most varied F&B and leisure markets in the world, it is still undersupplied relatively on a per capita basis, suggesting there still remains a significant opportunity for the market to grow and for further proliferation of businesses in the sector. Savills reports that this comes despite the NYC F&B sector being hit especially hard by the pandemic, from which the city has yet to fully bounce back with labour shortages in particular still causing major disruption.
Seoul marginally outranks London due to its sizeable population’s existing spend on leisure, which averaged just over US$3,000 per capita, 13% ahead of that of London. This, and the greater propensity for leisure amongst its residents, is reflected in the fact that it is one of the most innovative markets globally when it comes to emerging new leisure concepts.
Josh Leon, head of central London restaurants and leisure at Savills, comments: “It comes as no surprise to me that London is still up there globally, despite the relentless series of challenges that have hit the sector for several years now. As the UK’s cultural capital, London continues to be one of the worlds most visited cities and the constantly evolving restaurant scene remains truly world class. UK based F&B brands continue to export overseas, often, but not always, with local investors. The US, mainland Europe and the Gulf region continue to be where this interest is mostly directed.
“With domestic trade in China having been so challenged, it has sparked an unprecedented number of Asia-based concepts committing to international expansion, with New York, London and Paris at the top of the list for now.”
The research from Savills has also identified Istanbul, Bangkok and Mumbai as key emerging markets for the sector. Given the scale of these cities, with urban populations in excess of 15 million (larger than London), and over a third of people aged between 15 and 34 years, each of these cities offers a high propensity for eating and going out.
Savills notes that while these three cities lag behind other markets, a growing level of affluence means that they are likely to move up the agenda for expanding international F&B and leisure concepts, evidenced already with the likes of Soho House opening new locations in Istanbul and Mumbai, with Bangkok soon to launch.
Carlene Hughes, head of UK restaurants and leisure, adds: “We are entering a particularly exciting time for opportunistic leisure operators looking to expand internationally whether that be already established brands or innovative new concepts. The immersive and experiential leisure market has seen major development in cities such as New York, Las Vegas, Seoul, Tokyo and London and we expect to see operators acquire further space in these cities as well as in new locations.”