CHINA – China’s hotel construction pipeline reached unprecedented
heights at the close of the second quarter with a record-high 3,815 projects and
699,786 rooms, marking a 4% increase in projects and 3% in rooms year-over-year
(YOY), according to Lodging Econometrics data.
Projects under construction hit an all-time high of 2,743
with 498,551 rooms, accounting for 72% of the projects in China’s total
pipeline and growing 3% by projects and 4% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to
start construction in the next 12 months stand at 390 projects/70,520 rooms, up
9% by projects and 10% by rooms YOY. Projects in early planning grew 4% YOY to
close the quarter at 682 projects/130,715 rooms.
China had 219 projects/37,261 rooms start construction in
Q2. That number represents a 37% YOY increase by projects and a 32% increase by
rooms. Fully, 264 new projects with 43,301 rooms were announced into the China
construction pipeline during Q2, rising 12% YOY by projects. Combined,
renovation and conversion projects reached record-high counts and stood at 206
projects and 42,084 rooms, showing a 32% YOY increase in projects and a 47%
increase in rooms.
During the first two quarters of 2024, 341 new hotels/47,084
rooms opened in China with an additional 596 new hotels/92,589 rooms forecast
to open in the second half of the year. LE analysts forecasted 937 new hotels
and 139,673 new rooms to open by year-end 2024.
In 2025, LE forecasts 994 new hotels/166,683 rooms to open,
and according to the newly released 2026 new hotel openings forecast, 759 new
hotels/146,894 rooms are forecast to open in 2026.
Product type, location leaders
Three chain scales account for 69% of the projects and 65%
of the rooms in China’s second quarter pipeline. The upper midscale segment,
claiming 32% of the projects in the country’s total pipeline, achieved
record-highs this quarter with 1,227 projects/190,268 rooms. Hotel construction
projects in the upscale chain scale also reached new all-time highs with 979
projects/219,104 rooms. The midscale segment closed the quarter with 437
projects/43,206 rooms.
Chengdu
led China’s pipeline at the Q2 close with 147 projects/29,951 rooms. Shanghai
followed with 126 projects/24,340 rooms. Next was Guangzhou with 122
projects/24,977 rooms, then Hangzhou with 103 projects/20,997 rooms, and Xi’an
with 87 projects/15,813 rooms.