China"s Pipeline Increases In 2012

　　As we head into 2012, China is leading the hotel pipeline pack by a long shot, having already surpassed the United States in terms of prospective rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics data.

　　Globally, there are a total of 7,078 hotel projects/1,277,339 rooms in the construction pipeline as of the end of Q3 2011. Seventy-seven percent of the world’s total pipeline projects and 76 percent of rooms are in the Top 10 countries. With 1,385 projects and 396,804 rooms at the end of Q3, China’s total pipeline has surpassed that of the United States by 48,874 rooms. China’s economy weathered global recessionary trends with minimal impact. As such, the pipeline rebounded quickly from modest declines and now exceeds the previous Q2 2008 peak, with totals up 12 percent by projects and 22 percent by rooms.

　　India’s total pipeline is at 375 projects and 70,668 rooms. New hotel openings in India have begun to accelerate and are expected to reach a new high in 2012, which will likely draw down pipeline totals.

　　Lodging Econometrics projects a total of 513 new hotels and 147,974 rooms to open in this region. We also adjusted forecasts for 2011 and 2012 upward due to the continued escalation in the number of pipeline projects currently under construction. 854 hotels and 135,644 rooms are now expected come online in 2011, then 646 hotels comprising 148,216 rooms in 2012.

　　A lion’s share of the region’s new openings belong to China, which will have the largest number of hotels entering current supply of any country in the world over the next three years. LE’s forecast expects a total of 707 new hotels and 111,118 rooms in 2011, 467 hotels and 114,466 rooms in 2012, then 345 hotels and 113,705 rooms in 2013. While the number of rooms coming online is holding essentially flat, the number of hotels is trending down significantly. This is due to the number of larger-scale projects slated to exit the pipeline, with the average new hotel size doubling from 157 rooms in 2011 to 330 rooms in 2013