According to the recent Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), Asia Pacific’s total construction pipeline, excluding China, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 stands at 1,814 projects/397,089 rooms. Project counts are up 5%, while room counts are up 8%, year-over-year (YOY).
Projects currently under construction stand at 899 projects with 207,693 rooms, while projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months closed the year at 380 projects/77,574 rooms. Project and room counts in the early planning stage are at all-time high at the end of Q4 with 535 projects/111,822 rooms. At Q4, projects in the scheduled to start in the next 12 months stage are down 3% YOY and are unchanged by rooms YOY. Projects and room counts in the under construction and early planning stages are up YOY.
As seen across the globe, the hotel and hospitality industry in the Asia Pacific region has been largely impacted by COVID-19. While the recovery timeline for the region to return to pre-pandemic levels of new hotel pipeline projects and rooms remains unclear, Q4 saw several increases in pipeline metrics that show a promising step toward recovery.
Over the last four quarters, the region has seen a steady increase in announced renovations and conversions and ended 2021 with a total of 147 large-scale renovation projects with 32,014 rooms. At the end of Q4, renovations stand at 40 projects/10,583 rooms. Conversions stand at record high counts of 107 projects/21,431 rooms; the highest the region has seen in years. New projects announced into the pipeline have accelerated throughout the year as well, with 152 projects/33,039 rooms announced in the fourth quarter alone.
Countries with the largest pipelines in Asia Pacific, excluding China, are led by Indonesia, with 304 projects/48,175 rooms. Next is India, with 277 projects/37,876 rooms, then Vietnam with 210 projects/80,796 rooms. These countries are followed by Thailand, at an all-time high, with 166 projects/39,315 rooms and then Australia with 150 projects/28,659 rooms. Asia Pacific cities outside of China with the largest construction pipelines are led by Jakarta, Indonesia with 66 projects/11,482 rooms. Next is Seoul, South Korea, with 65 projects/12,401 rooms and Bangkok, Thailand, with 62 projects/15,219 rooms. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is next with 49 projects/14,252 rooms and Phuket, Thailand, with 34 projects/8,447 rooms.
The top franchise companies in Asia Pacific, excluding China, are Marriott International with 267 projects/57,734 rooms, Accor with 221 projects/46,655 rooms, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 140 projects/30,721 rooms. Hilton Worldwide with 93 projects/21,886 rooms and then Hyatt Hotels with 78 projects/15,529 rooms. Combined, these five companies account for 44% of the rooms in the region’s total construction pipeline.
Top brands in Asia Pacific’s construction pipeline, excluding China, include Marriott’s Courtyard brand with 38 projects/8,275 rooms, and Fairfield Inn with 37 projects/5,822 rooms; Accor’s Novotel brand with 47 projects/10,311 rooms and its Ibis brands with 41 projects/7,902 rooms; IHG’s Holiday Inn with 45 projects/9,797 rooms and Holiday Inn Express with 26 projects/4,762 rooms; Hilton Worldwide’s full-service Hilton Hotel & Resorts with 31 projects/8,604 rooms its DoubleTree brand with 29 projects/6,181 rooms; Hyatt Hotel’s Hyatt Place with 22 projects/3,672 rooms and Hyatt Regency with 20 projects/4,335 rooms.
Excluding China, the Asia Pacific region opened a total of 230 new hotels/40,198 rooms throughout 2021. Q4 experienced the most openings of any quarter of 2021 with 71 hotels/11,293 rooms. LE is forecasting another 320 projects/70,160 rooms to open in 2022 and 356 projects/67,318 rooms to open in 2023.