The hotel development pipeline across the Asia-Pacific, excluding China, region (APEC) continued its notable growth trajectory through the third quarter of 2024, according to the latest Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE). At the close of Q3, the total APEC hotel construction pipeline reached new record highs of 2,072 projects and 410,863 rooms, representing year-over-year (YOY) increases of 7% and 3% respectively.
Hotel projects currently under construction stand at 848 projects/197,576 rooms, while those scheduled to start in the next 12 months stand at 354 projects/64,571 rooms at the end of Q3. Projects in the early planning stage hit a record high, reaching 870 projects with 148,716 rooms, up 28% by projects and 18% by rooms YOY.
The upper upscale, upscale, and upper midscale chain scales account for 61% of projects and 64% of the rooms in the pipeline. Projects in the upscale chain scale dominate the APEC pipeline at Q3 with 510 projects and 101,067 rooms, both reaching all-time highs. The upper midscale chain scale stands at 388 projects/79,773 rooms at Q3, while the upper upscale chain scale stands at 372 projects/82,130 rooms. Notably, projects and room counts in the luxury chain scale segment both reached new highs at Q3, to close the quarter at 310 projects/60,131 rooms.
India continues to lead the region with the greatest number of hotel projects in the pipeline at Q3, with a record-high 641 projects and 79,648 rooms, accounting for 31% of total projects and 19% of the rooms in the region’s overall pipeline. Other top countries include Vietnam with 252 projects/88,489 rooms, Indonesia with 179 projects/31,801 rooms, Thailand with 161 projects/40,770 rooms, and Japan with 150 projects/27,461 rooms.
At the close of the third quarter, cities with the largest pipelines in the APEC region include Bangkok, Thailand, with 69 projects/15,960 rooms; Jakarta, Indonesia, with 42 projects/9,345 rooms; Melbourne, Australia, with 38 projects/6,961 rooms; Phuket, Thailand, with 36 projects/9,139 rooms; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with 30 projects/8,493 rooms.
In the third quarter, 66 new hotels with 11,524 rooms opened across the APEC region, totaling 204 new hotels/36,483 rooms opened in 2024 year-to-date. For the remainder of the year, LE analysts forecast another 135 new hotels/26,848 rooms to open, for a year-end forecasted total of 339 new hotels/63,331 rooms.
Looking ahead, the LE forecast for new hotel openings expects an additional 339 new hotels with 72,518 rooms to open in 2025, followed by 337 new hotels with 65,668 rooms in 2026.
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