According to the latest China Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), China’s total hotel construction pipeline stands at 3,440 projects/656,828 rooms at the end of Q1 ’21, down 3% by projects and up 2% by rooms year-over-year (YOY). While project counts may be down YOY, the total number of rooms in China’s construction pipeline reached a cyclical peak this quarter and is the highest it’s been in more than 12 years.
The lodging industry in China is steadily working towards recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has administered approximately 511 million vaccines, as of May 23, and while international travel is still limited and full recovery could take a long time, domestic travel has shown rapid growth in recent months. National holidays, conferences, weddings and large celebrations have led to a boom in leisure and business travel, and the increased demand for travel accommodations is expected to continue.
During the first quarter, China opened 113 hotels/17,830 rooms. LE is forecasting a total of 901 projects/132,244 rooms to open in 2021 and 966 projects/165,666 rooms to open in 2022.
The country currently has 2,360 projects/425,516 rooms under construction, a slight increase of 1% by projects and 3% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 615 projects/119,566 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage hit a cyclical peak this quarter, standing at 465 projects, accounting for 111,746 rooms.
Read original article