Asia Pacific, Excluding China, Hotel Construction Pipeline Reaches Record Highs at the Close of Q2 2026; Plus, New 2028 Forecast

Lodging Econometrics' (LE's) Q2 2026 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report for Asia Pacific, excluding China (APEC), shows the region's total pipeline reaches a record high of 2,506 projects/452,972 rooms at the close of the second quarter, up 17% by projects and 11% by rooms year-over-year (YOY).

By pipeline stage, projects under construction stand at 989 projects/199,362 rooms, up 13% by projects and 5% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction within the next 12 months total 398 projects/72,213 rooms at Q2, up 5% by projects YOY. Hotel construction projects currently in the early planning stage stand at a record high of 1,119 projects and 181,397 rooms at Q2, up 26% by projects and 25% by rooms YOY, and accounting for 45% of the total pipeline. Additionally, construction starts in the region total 101 projects/16,628 rooms.

Most chain scales are hitting record highs across the board in APEC. Luxury reaches 432 projects/79,928 rooms, up 22% by projects and 18% by rooms YOY, while the upper upscale chain scale reaches to 435 projects/91,231 rooms, up 14% by projects and 11% by rooms YOY, and upscale hotel projects in the APEC region stand at 658 projects/121,365 rooms up 22% by projects and 15% by rooms YOY. The upper midscale chain reaches 423 projects/75,866 rooms, up 17% by projects and 2% by rooms YOY, while midscale closes the quarter with a record project total of 310 projects/39,113 rooms, up 19% by projects and 13% by rooms YOY. Combined, the top two chain scales by project count, upper upscale and upscale account for 44% of projects and 42% of the region’s total pipeline at the quarter’s close.

New project announcements (NPAs) in the APEC region at Q2 2026 stand at 217 projects/34,938 rooms, up significantly by projects and rooms YOY. Combined hotel renovations and brand conversions stand at a record high of 346 projects/58,429 rooms, up 36% by projects and 25% by rooms YOY.

India leads all countries in the APEC region at Q2 with a record-high 1,033 projects and 137,601 rooms in its hotel construction pipeline, up 36% by projects and 39% by rooms YOY. Vietnam follows with 265 projects/81,848 rooms, up 7% by projects YOY. Japan ranks third with 207 projects/31,360 rooms, up 17% by projects and 9% by rooms YOY, followed by Indonesia with 189 projects/31,772 rooms, up 12% by projects and 8% by rooms YOY. Thailand closes the quarter with 167 projects/42,069 rooms. Combined, the top five countries by project count total 1,861 projects/324,650 rooms, representing 74% of the total pipeline.

By city, Bangkok leads with 67 projects/16,372 rooms, then Bengaluru with 51 projects/10,258 rooms, up 42% by projects and 44% by rooms YOY. Mumbai follows with 49 projects/10,232 rooms, up 58% by projects YOY. Jakarta and Phuket round out the region’s leading cities with 47 projects/10,140 rooms and 44 projects/10,352 rooms, respectively.

One hundred and forty-eight projects/20,594 rooms opened across the APEC region in the first half of 2026, with 236 new hotel projects accounting for 41,217 rooms forecast to open in the third and fourth quarters. Looking ahead, LE forecasts 374 new hotels/68,396 rooms to open in 2027 and announcing for the first time is LE’s 2028 forecast, projecting 363 new hotels/59,659 rooms to open across the APEC region that year.

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