There were 6,140 projects/1,058,945 rooms under construction worldwide at Q4 2025. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stood at 3,845 projects/553,140 rooms, up 3% by rooms YOY. Projects in the early planning stage reached record highs of 5,937 projects/825,269 rooms, showing significant growth with a 4% increase in projects and a 3% increase in rooms YOY.
The pipeline for the luxury chain scale reached a record high of 1,328 projects/252,544 rooms, up 8% in projects and 4% in rooms YOY. The upper-upscale chain scale also achieved record highs with 1,883 projects/391,391 rooms, increasing 9% by projects and 4% by rooms YOY. The top two chain scales by project count, upscale and upper-midscale combined, total 8,358 projects/1,227,133 rooms, up 1% by both projects and rooms YOY.
The top countries by project count continue to be led by the U.S. with 6,146 projects/720,089 rooms. China follows with 3,608 projects/644,938 rooms. The U.S. accounts for 39% of the global pipeline, while China accounts for 23%, with 62% of the projects in the total global pipeline concentrated within these two countries. Notable growth is seen in India, which reached record highs with 906 projects/118,334 rooms, showing a 31% increase in projects and a 35% increase in rooms YOY. Saudi Arabia also achieved record highs with 394 projects/106,521 rooms, up 25% by projects and 28% by rooms YOY.
The cities with the greatest number of projects in the hotel construction pipeline are led by Dallas with 193 projects/23,720 rooms. Atlanta follows with 159 projects/17,804 rooms. Next are the international cities of Chengdu, China, which ranks third with 136 projects/24,216 rooms, followed by Guangzhou with 126 projects/25,329 rooms and Phoenix, which rounds out the top five with 124 projects/16,303 rooms.
Globally, the conversion pipeline reached record highs with 2,815 projects/341,006 rooms, up 13% by projects and 14% by rooms YOY. Combined hotel renovations and conversions also achieved record highs, standing at 3,777 projects/540,459 rooms, up 9% by projects and 10% by rooms YOY.
Regional pipeline project record counts were achieved by the Asia-Pacific, excluding China, region with 2,323 projects/433,241 rooms, up 11% by projects and 5% by rooms YOY, then the Middle East with 710 projects/176,402 rooms, up 15% by projects and 13% by rooms YOY, and Africa with 312 projects/47,395 rooms, up 11% by projects and 9% by rooms YOY.
During 2025, 2,371 new hotels opened worldwide, accounting for 325,985 rooms. LE analysts forecast 2,617 new hotels/389,175 rooms to open in 2026, followed by 2,630 new hotels/384,955 rooms to open in 2027.
Tags: Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report Lodging Econometrics (LE)
