PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—In its latest China Construction Pipeline Trend Report, Lodging Econometrics (LE) reported that, as of the end of Q3 2020, China’s total hotel construction pipeline remains robust at 3,409 projects/634,119 rooms—up 1 percent by projects and rooms year over year (YOY). These project and room counts are, however, down slightly over peak Q2 2020 totals, which were the highest seen in China during this lodging real estate development cycle.
There are currently 2,208 projects/405,530 rooms under construction in China, down 13 percent YOY by projects and 8 percent by rooms. Like last quarter, projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months experienced another quarter of substantial YOY increases of 85 percent by projects and 44 percent by rooms, totaling 746 projects/122,014 rooms. These YOY highs are attributed to a record number of pipeline projects within the upscale, upper midscale, and midscale chain scales. Hotels in the early planning stage stand at 455 projects/106,575 rooms—up 6 percent by projects and 1 percent by rooms YOY. In Q3 2020, China opened 185 new hotels totaling 23,605 rooms.
Guangzhou leads China’s pipeline with 137 projects/26,615 rooms. Chengdu follows with 131 projects/26,064 rooms. Next is Shanghai at 125 projects/23,296 rooms, Wuhan with 101 projects/13,899 rooms, and Xi’an with 95 projects/16,882 rooms.
Franchise companies topping China’s construction pipeline are Hilton with record totals of 535 projects/107,848 rooms; InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), also recording all-time high project and record counts with 424 projects/90,906 rooms; and Marriott International with 336 projects/90,333 rooms. Next is JinJiang Holdings with 250 projects/25,127 rooms and Accor with 201 projects/34,655 rooms.
Hilton’s top brands are Hampton by Hilton, at an all-time high of 325 projects/50,100 rooms. Hilton’s second-largest brand, also at an all-time high, is Hilton Garden Inn with 68 projects/15,653 rooms. IHG’s leading brand in China is Holiday Inn Express at a record count of 205 projects/34,785 rooms and then Holiday Inn with a record number of 69 projects/17,184 rooms. Marriott International’s top brands are Marriott Hotel & Resorts with 67 projects/20,150 rooms and Fairfield Inn with 47 projects/7,219 rooms. Another noteworthy brand for Marriott is Four Points Hotel, which is at a peak for projects and rooms count in China—37 projects/11,048 rooms. Leading brands for JinJiang Holdings are 7 Days Inn with 106 projects/8,341 rooms followed by Vienna Hotel with 75 projects/7,394 rooms. Accor’s leading brands are the Ibis with 79 projects/8,341 rooms and Mercure Hotel with 57 projects/9,407 rooms.
According to research by LE’s market intelligence team, hotel construction projects in most major cities in China have resumed as the country continues to maintain control of COVID-19.
