According to the recent Asia Pacific, excluding China, Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), at the end of the second quarter the region’s total construction pipeline grew to 1,891 projects/396,517 rooms, up 11% and 9% respectively, year-over-year (YOY).
The hotel industry in Asia-Pacific continued to show signs of recovery in the second quarter of 2022. Countries in the region with lifted border and travel restrictions saw a boom in leisure and business demand with the return of international travelers. At the end of the second quarter, projects currently under construction stand at 958 projects/212,609 rooms, up 12% YOY and 9% YOY respectively, and projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 337 projects/66,655 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage soared to a record high 596 projects/117,253 rooms, up 30% YOY by projects and 23% YOY by rooms as investors and developers act upon opportunities to get new projects in the ground and announce new projects. Development activity was most active within the mid-level chain scales, where upscale and midscale projects hit record high project counts of 411 projects/92,424 rooms and 181 projects/28,993 rooms respectively. Conversions and renovation projects also reached record high project and room counts of 173 projects/34,955 rooms in the second quarter.
At the end of the quarter, countries with the largest pipelines in Asia Pacific’s construction pipeline, excluding China, are led by India with 339 projects/42,548 rooms. Indonesia follows with 284 projects/45,359 rooms, then Vietnam with 223 projects/80,376 rooms. Next is Thailand with all-time high project and room counts of 178 projects/42,694 rooms, then Japan with 171 projects/36,919 rooms
Asia Pacific cities with the largest construction pipelines at Q2 are led by Bangkok, Thailand with 69 projects/18,304 rooms. Next is Seoul, South Korea with 63 projects/12,068 rooms and Jakarta, Indonesia with 63 projects/11,434 rooms. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia follows with 45 projects/13,602 rooms and Phuket, Thailand with 36 projects/8,814 rooms.
The top four franchise companies, accounting for nearly 40% of projects and rooms in the total construction pipeline, are led by Marriott International with 271 projects/58,673 rooms and Accor with 203 projects/41,816 rooms. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 143 projects/30,677 rooms follows, along with Hilton Worldwide with 91 projects/21,483 rooms.
Top brands in Asia Pacific’s hotel construction pipeline, excluding China, at Q2 include Accor’s Novotel brand with 48 projects/9,989 rooms; Marriott International’s Courtyard by Marriott with 38 projects/8,121 rooms; IHG’s Holiday Inn brand with 45 projects/9,947 rooms; and Hilton Worldwide’s brand Hilton Hotel & Resort with 32 projects/8,752 rooms.
The Asia Pacific region, excluding China, had 126 new hotels/23,706 rooms open in the first half of the year, with another 191 new hotels, accounting for 38,128 rooms, expected to open in the second half, bringing the total forecast for new hotel openings to 317 with 61,834 rooms by 2022 year-end. LE analysts forecast new hotel openings to continue ascending with 377 new hotels with 77,089 rooms expected to open in 2023 and 420 new hotels with 78,906 rooms anticipated to open in 2024.
