Asian buyers, particularly from Malaysia, have boosted the sales of hotels in Australian CBD's this year, with hotels worth A$1.1 billion changing hands in the first half of 2012, double that of 2011.

Malaysian-listed Starhill REIT has purchased three Marriott hotels in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, after being on the market for some years under previous owner - fund manager Colonial First State. Starhill is associated with conglomerate YTL.

The buying follows a major upswing in the number of Chinese visitors coming to Australia, with more than 500,000 coming to Australia last year and projections of more than 850,000 by 2020.

Singaporean buyers have historically been very active in the Australian hotel sector, but they have been eclipsed this year by buyers from Malaysia and Hong Kong. 

Asian buyers were responsible for more than 90 percent of hotel purchases in the first half of 2012.