According to the recent Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Asia Pacific, excluding China (APEC), hotel construction pipeline reached a record-high project count at the Q4 2025 close, climbing 11% year-over-year (YOY) to reach 2,323 projects/433,241 rooms, up 5% by rooms YOY.
At the close of the quarter, hotel projects under construction in the Asia Pacific region, excluding China, accounted for 38% of the total pipeline with 890 projects, up 5% YOY, and 44% of the rooms in the pipeline with 189,271 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction anytime in the next 12 months increased 8% by projects and 15% by rooms YOY to stand at 398 projects/77,767 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage saw significant growth, up 19% by projects and 12% by rooms YOY, to reach record-high counts of 1,035 projects/166,203 rooms.
The higher-end chain scales continue to dominate the APEC region’s pipeline at the Q4 2025 close. Luxury projects reached record-high project counts, up 14% YOY, to close the quarter at 398 projects/75,190 rooms. Upper upscale projects hit record highs by both projects and rooms, increasing 17% by projects and 13% by rooms YOY to stand at 422 projects/88,958 rooms. Upscale projects also reached record highs, up 12% by projects and 9% by rooms YOY, closing the quarter at 568 projects/111,296 rooms. Upper midscale hotel projects increased 7% by projects YOY and stand at 376 projects/74,749 rooms at Q4. The top two chain scales by project count, upscale and upper midscale, account for 990 projects totaling 200,254 rooms, or 43% of projects and 46% of rooms in APEC’s pipeline.
Countries with the largest construction pipelines are led by India, which hit record highs with 906 projects/118,334 rooms, up 31% by projects and 35% by rooms YOY, accounting for 39% of the projects in the region’s total pipeline. Next is Vietnam with 248 projects/84,079 rooms, followed by Japan with 200 projects/32,209 rooms, up 23% by projects and 12% by rooms YOY. Indonesia is fourth with 181 projects/30,761 rooms, and then Thailand with 167 projects/43,067 rooms.
Cities with the largest construction pipelines are led by Bangkok, Thailand with 68 projects/16,641 rooms, followed by Jakarta, Indonesia with 46 projects/10,159 rooms, and Bengaluru, India with 45 projects/9,199 rooms, up 45% by projects and 55% by rooms YOY. Tokyo, Japan follows with 42 projects/5,497 rooms, up 91% by projects and 31% by rooms YOY, and then Phuket, Thailand with 41 projects/9,583 rooms.
In 2025, the APEC region saw 334 new hotels/50,002 rooms open. LE analysts forecast 338 new hotels/67,317 rooms to open in 2026 and 349 new hotels/64,491 rooms to open in 2027.