According to the Q1 2022 Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the hotel construction pipeline in the Asia Pacific region, excluding China, has 1,880 projects/404,060 rooms, up 7% by projects and 9% by rooms Year-Over-Year (YOY).
At the end of the first quarter, in the Asia Pacific hotel construction pipeline excluding China, there are currently 949 projects/214,215 rooms under construction, up 9% by projects and 10% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 357 projects/74,459 rooms and projects in early planning, hit a record-high this quarter, up 25% by projects and 21% by rooms YOY, standing at 574 projects/115,386 rooms at the end of the quarter. New project announcements in Q1 ‘22, in the region, are up 28% by projects and 24% by rooms YOY, standing at 164 projects/26,105 rooms.
In recent months, a growing number of countries in the region have updated travel policies to allow domestic and some international travel and the region’s hospitality industry has already seen increases in booking numbers. As more countries ease restrictions, travel and tourism demand will rise, which is a key ingredient for new hotel development.
According to analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE), the top countries in the Asia Pacific hotel construction pipeline, excluding China, by project count are India with 316 projects/40,939 rooms, Indonesia, with 302 projects/48,276 rooms, and Vietnam with 218 projects/81,764 rooms. Following Vietnam, at the end of Q1 2022, Thailand stands at 165 projects with a record-high room count of 39,721 rooms, and Japan closed the quarter with 162 projects/36,648 rooms. These five cities account for 62% of total projects currently in the region’s pipeline.
Excluding China, cities in the Asia Pacific region with the largest number of hotel projects in the current construction pipeline are Seoul, South Korea with 64 projects/12,221 rooms, followed by Jakarta, Indonesia with 63 projects/11,443 rooms, then Bangkok, Thailand with 61 projects/15,582 rooms.
According to LE’s Trend Report, at Q1 ‘22, the top hotel franchise companies in the Asia Pacific Construction Pipeline, excluding China, are Marriott International with 270 projects/58,933 rooms, Accor with 210 projects/44,094 rooms, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 142 projects/30,719 rooms, Hilton Worldwide with 91 projects/21,510 rooms, and Hyatt Hotels with 76 projects/15,214 rooms.
The leading brands in the construction pipeline for each of these companies, at Q1 ‘22, are Marriott’s Courtyard by Marriott with 37 projects/7,931 rooms, Accor’s Novotel with 47 projects/9,816 rooms, IHG’s Holiday Inn brand with 46 projects/10,182 rooms, Hilton’s Hotel & Resort with 32 projects/8,903 rooms, and Hyatt’s Regency brand with 21 projects/4,615 rooms.
Fifty new hotels, accounting for 9,755 rooms, opened in the Asia Pacific region, excluding China, in 2022’s first quarter. LE analysts forecast another 252 projects with 50,855 rooms to open throughout the remainder of the year, totaling 302 new hotels with 60,610 rooms in 2022. In 2023, LE forecasts the Asia Pacific region, excluding China, to open 351 new hotel projects, accounting for 71,178 rooms.
