'International investment has previously been restrained by many barriers, including the limited range of investment vehicles and the nature of a market that is dominated by family-run businesses, resulting in a dearth of suitable hotels for sale', Roberto Galano, senior vice-president at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, told Reuters in an interview.

'As international activity increases in Italian office and retail markets, and bank finance becomes more readily available, investment activity should increase significantly', he said. Italy achieved the second-highest volume of single-asset hotel sales in Europe, after Britain, last year, a Jones Lang LaSalle survey showed. But the figures were skewed by one big deal, the sale of the Four Seasons hotel in Milan, which accounted for around 80 percent of the total and attracted a record price per room.

'International investment has previously been restrained by many barriers, including the limited range of investment vehicles and the nature of a market that is dominated by family-run businesses, resulting in a dearth of suitable hotels for sale', Roberto Galano, senior vice-president at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, told Reuters in an interview.

'As international activity increases in Italian office and retail markets, and bank finance becomes more readily available, investment activity should increase significantly', he said. Italy achieved the second-highest volume of single-asset hotel sales in Europe, after Britain, last year, a Jones Lang LaSalle survey showed. But the figures were skewed by one big deal, the sale of the Four Seasons hotel in Milan, which accounted for around 80 percent of the total and attracted a record price per room.