The Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC) sees a surge in hotel construction with a 13% year-over-year increase, setting new records in upscale and luxury segments.
As seen in the Q1 2024 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the total pipeline in the Asia Pacific region, excluding China, (APEC) reached a record-breaking project total of 2,021 projects/402,312 rooms. This new all-time high represents a 7% year-over-year (YOY) increase in projects and a 2% YOY increase in rooms.
At the close of the first quarter, there are 866 projects/198,267 rooms under construction throughout the region. Additionally, there are 340 projects/65,259 rooms scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months, marking a 13% YOY increase in projects and a 10% increase YOY in rooms. The early planning stage also saw substantial growth, with a record 815 projects totaling 138,786 rooms, reflecting a 27% YOY increase in projects and a 15% YOY increase in rooms.
Standout chain scale segments in the APEC region at the Q1 close include the upscale chain scale with record-high project and room counts of 483 projects and 97,013 rooms, upper upscale, also at record-high project and room counts of 376 projects/83,028 rooms, and the luxury chain scale with a record-high project count of 267 projects/52,346 rooms.
The top three countries in the APEC region by project count at Q1 are India with a record 581 projects/70,178 rooms, Vietnam with 238 projects/85,085 rooms, and Indonesia with 185 projects/31,743 rooms. These three countries account for 50% of the projects in the region’s total pipeline.
APEC cities with the largest pipelines by project count are led by Bangkok, Thailand with 67 projects/15,525 rooms, Jakarta, Indonesia with 46 projects/9,476 rooms, and Melbourne, Australia with 43 projects/8,121 rooms. Phuket, Thailand follows with 37 projects/9,320 rooms, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 32 projects/9,191 rooms.
During the first quarter, 72 new hotels comprising 13,714 rooms opened in the APEC region, with an additional 311 new hotels/60,140 rooms forecast to open in Q2-Q4. LE is forecasting a total of 383 new hotels and 73,854 rooms to open by year-end. Looking ahead to 2025, LE analysts anticipate 365 new hotels and 73,074 rooms to open throughout the APEC region.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
