According to the latest numbers from STR, 626,535 guestrooms in 2,834 hotel projects are in development in the Asia Pacific region. The total represents a 7.0-percent increase in guestrooms in development compared with July 2016.
The Asia Pacific region reported 276,757 guestrooms in 1,210 projects under construction for the month. Based on number of guestrooms, that is an 8.3-percent increase in year-over-year comparisons.
Three key markets in the region reported more than 5,000 guestrooms under construction. Shanghai, China reported that 9,737 guestrooms in 43 hotels were under construction while Jakarta, Indonesia recorded that 5,715 guestrooms in 23 hotels were under construction. Meanwhile Chengdu, China had 5,182 guestrooms in 23 hotels under construction.
Shanghai has been topping the market with the largest pipeline by project count since December 2016, according to the China Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report and Lodging Econometrics. Shanghai has reached these numbers although China's total pipeline count has been dropping. In March 2017, China's hotel pipeline had a total of 2,340 hotels and 525,640 guestrooms—down 7 percent from projects YOY. However, Shanghai had 109 projects and 22,071 guestrooms in its pipeline last December. That total increased to 125 projects and 23,252 guestrooms in March 2017 while Chendgu's strong hotel pipeline numbers have continued to trail behind those of Shanghai.
Competing with Europe
The Asia Pacific region's hotel pipeline numbers have exceeded those of Europe with 178,105 guestrooms and 1,167 hotel projects in comparison. According to STR, the Asia Pacific also surpassed Europe's total number of hotel projects at 499 and guestrooms at 77,280 under construction for the month.
However, Europe's hotels recorded a higher percentage increase for hotel projects and guestrooms in development and under construction compared to July 2016. Europe's hotels reported that the total number of hotel projects and guestrooms in development grew 20 percent since the same period last year. Meanwhile, the region's number of hotel projects and guestrooms under construction increased by 22 percent since last July.
Five key European markets reported over 2,000 guestrooms under construction. Istanbul, Turkey reported 4,497 guestrooms in 24 hotels while London, England had 4,300 guestrooms in 27 hotels. Moscow, Russia had 3,602 guestrooms in 16 hotels as Munich, Germany reported that 2,897 guestrooms in 13 hotels were under construction. Amsterdam, The Netherlands recorded 2,166 guestrooms in 12 hotels under construction.
Under contract data includes projects that are under construction, in the final planning stage and in the planning stage, but it does not include projects in the unconfirmed stage.