“The London leisure landscape has evolved significantly over the past five years. This has coincided with the rise of new concepts focussed around innovation in technology, offering a new take on age-old leisure activities, together with the elevation of consumer experience and storytelling. There is now a plethora of new competitive socialising, immersive and ticketed event-based concepts seeking prime London spaces, with 10,000–25,000 sq ft being the sweet spot in size requirements. Examples include digital art venue Frameless opening in Marble Arch, Twist Museum and Boom Battle Bar on Oxford Street, and Monopoly Lifesized on Tottenham Court Road. We see this is a phenomenal testament to how far the leisure market has evolved, now both competing in terms of rents with traditional retail and as a desired use to institutional landlords.”

“Central London continues to outperform its European neighbours in terms of international interest across all sectors, from quick service and casual to premium dining, bars and clubs. Like other European capitals, London continues to attract tourists from all over the world, but when it comes to people visiting or relocating here for business, London has the edge over any other city on the continent. Also, the eating out culture here means the resident population is seen by international operators as a particularly receptive and welcoming market for all kinds of dining and entertainment.”

“2022 was an incredible year of performance for retail and F&B in Paris. We saw lots of tourists return to the city, helping to push spend back in line with pre-Covid levels, and that’s without the return of Chinese tourists who are expected to return in more significant numbers in 2023 now that travel restrictions have been lifted. This points to massive potential and we’re seeing a number of new F&B and leisure concepts, including a number of sexy high-end F&B concepts, emerge to capitalise on this, all helping to (re)establish Paris a food capital.”

“Dubai is an established leisure market in the region catering to a global audience. The city has a population of only 3.5 million but welcomed more than 14.36 million international visitors in 2022. Its leisure offerings are therefore developed by considering the diverse requirements of incoming visitors and a large expatriate population and combining them with local culture, natural offerings, and technological innovations.

"Innovative concepts, such as the new PadelX floating padel club situated in Jumeirah Lake Towers, interactive online gaming concepts, such as Immersive Gamebox in City Centre Mall – Mirdif; and the Mall of The Metaverse, complement the traditional entertainment options across the city.

"These concepts are spread across the city and are not limited to traditional retail high streets or shopping centres. In fact, in the heart of Al Quoz's industrial district, a new vibrant arts district has emerged, Alserkal Avenue, which is now one of Dubai's most influential creative communities, creating a 500,000 sqft urban hub that fuses art, food, fashion, and music with cultural events.

"Dubai’s market is expected to see significant growth going forward in line with ambitious government plans to further develop leisure offerings across the city.”

“The long-awaited lifting of the mask mandate, the return of international sporting and cultural events and the increasing numbers of Mainland Chinese tourists are all adding to a growing sense of optimism for Hong Kong’s recovery. The narrative from operators is increasingly positive. Consolidated retail portfolios are actively under review and F&B operators are shifting their attention back from residential areas to core districts.

"Most activity is still from those already established in Hong Kong; however, interest from new entrants, particularly from Mainland China, is increasing.

"Mall occupancy rates remained high throughout the pandemic, as landlords granted strategically short-term lease extensions at concessionary rents. As mall rents recover and availability decreases, prime street locations, such as Canton Road and Russell Street, will become increasingly attractive to operators.

"Hong Kong’s high rents & occupancy levels are a perennial challenge for large-space leisure operators; however, new large-scale commercial developments in both Hong Kong and Macau are presenting rare opportunities for entertainment concepts.”

“New York remains a key F&B and leisure market in the US, enjoying strong levels of spend. This is evidenced in leasing activity, with demand for F&B space, in particular, being very competitive. But, things have changed in response to the pandemic, with the market far more nuanced and polarised. Lower worker densities, particularly downtown and midtown, is creating operational challenges in terms of performance. On the flip side, Upper East and West sides and other affluent neighbourhoods continue to trade well. But even in these areas, concepts need to have a unique point of difference as the competition is stiff.”

_{Read the articles within Savills Global Leisure Cities Index 2023 below.}