'European hotels are the shiniest stars in the firmament,' said Cody Bradshaw, managing director at Starwood Capital Group. 'This is where we choose to spend our money, and our strategy is driven by fundamentals such as increasing demand and an improving economic backdrop. From a pure supply and demand perspective, it makes perfect sense to focus on European hotels.'

Europe already accounts for around 50% of global tourism with some 700 million visitors, a number which is forecast to increase to 900 million in the next 10 years. Already seven of the top 10 cities in the world for numbers of visitors are in Europe, and demand is expected to grow by 4% a year in the next decade.

From a US perspective, Bradshaw said, another factor which is driving tourism to Europe is a 25% increase in the number of direct flights to European destinations – there are now 430. 'Opening up secondary markets with direct flights to Europe removes a huge barrier,' he said.

'Europe is where we see the most exciting opportunities in the next few years,' said Majid Mangalji, founder and president of Westmont Hospitality Group. ‘The market has more legs.'

There are other factors that work in Europe’s favour in investors’ eyes, said Steffen Robert Doyle, co-head of the real estate group at Credit Suisse: 'It is not just the strong numbers, but also that continental Europe is earlier in the cycle compared to the UK, and that the perception of political risk is lower. This is why we are seeing an enormous rotation of capital towards Europe.'

A year ago there were concerns about a string of upcoming elections in Europe, but now they have come and gone and the overall picture is one of economic growth and political stability, which compares favourably with the UK in the throes of Brexit, geopolitical tensions in Asia and the unpredictability of president Trump in the US, he said.

The prediction is that the year ahead will be a busy one for deals. 'There are three major drivers of activity,' said Doyle. ‘First, supply is low and demand is strong. Second, the availability of capital is unprecedented. Third, there are many attractive opportunities that investors will want to take advantage of.'

One of the best features of Europe is the 'fascinating diversity among its markets,' Bradshaw said. Spain is regarded by Starwood as a particularly attractive place to invest in, because it offers many development and redevelopment opportunities. Despite the growth of tourism in recent years, 'there are still hundreds of resorts that were built in the 1970’s and are waiting to be repositioned. We believe the positive trend we have been seeing is sustainable, and we are investing more.'