Projects currently under construction stand at 2,753 projects/491,966 rooms, up 4% by both projects and rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 357 projects/62,112 rooms at Q4, while projects in the early planning stage dropped slightly to 669 projects/127,837 rooms.
The upper-midscale segment is the preferred chain scale for development at Q4 close with 1,215 projects/185,100 rooms, accounting for 32% of the projects in China’s total pipeline. The upscale segment continued to show strong growth in the fourth quarter, increasing 11% by projects and 5% by rooms YOY to close with 1,018 projects/218,919 rooms. Together with the midscale chain scale’s 411 projects/40,661 rooms, these three chain scales account for 70% of all projects in China’s pipeline.
Notably, brand conversions reached a new record-high room count at Q4, with combined hotel renovations and brand conversions totaling 195 projects/39,156 rooms, representing a significant 34% increase in projects and a 37% increase in rooms YOY.
At the close of 2024’s fourth quarter, Chengdu continues to lead China’s hotel construction pipeline with 141 projects/25,180 rooms. Shanghai follows with 133 projects/24,529 rooms, showing steady growth of 10% by projects and 6% by rooms YOY. Guangzhou ranks third with 120 projects/24,217 rooms, then Hangzhou with 99 projects/19,874 rooms and Xi’an with 92 projects/16,083 rooms.
China saw robust hotel openings throughout 2024, with 871 new hotels accounting for 120,928 rooms open during the year. Looking ahead, LE forecasts continued growth with 1,090 new hotels/170,214 rooms anticipated to open in 2025, followed by 835 new hotels/145,646 rooms projected to open in 2026.
Tags: China, Lodging Econometrics (LE)
