Lodging Econometrics’ (LE’s) Q2 2025 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report stated that the total pipeline ascended to a record-high 15,871 projects with 2,436,225 rooms, up 3 percent by projects and 2 percent by rooms year-over-year (YOY).
Worldwide, at the close of the second quarter, there were 6,257 projects/1,086,245 rooms under construction, unchanged on a percentage basis by projects and down 3 percent by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months decreased 3 percent YOY by projects but increased 1 percent by rooms to stand at 3,870 projects/551,188 rooms at the close of the quarter. Projects in the early planning stage reached a record-high 5,744 projects with 798,792 rooms, marking a 10 percent increase in projects and a 9 percent increase in rooms, YOY.
Accounting for 52 percent of the projects in the total pipeline, the upper midscale and upscale chain scales dominated the global hotel construction pipeline project counts at Q2. Of that 52 percent, upper midscale hotel projects comprised 4,463 projects and 567,396 rooms in the total global pipeline, unchanged on a percentage basis by projects and down 1 percent by rooms YOY. Upscale projects and rooms marked record-highs in Q2, with 3,852 projects and 655,674 rooms, up 5 percent by projects and 3 percent by rooms YOY. Notably, at Q2, upper upscale projects reached a record-high 1,807 projects with 385,396 rooms, up 6 percent by projects and 1 percent by rooms YOY. Luxury projects and rooms totals also reached record-high counts at Q2. This marked an 11 percent YOY increase in projects and a 9 percent YOY increase in rooms, to stand at 1,267 projects/245,665 rooms.
At the end of Q2, the top countries by project count were the United States, with 6,280 projects and 737,036 rooms, and China, with 3,733 projects and 672,224 rooms. The U.S. accounted for 40 percent of the projects in the global pipeline, while China accounted for 24 percent, resulting in 64 percent of the global pipeline being concentrated within these two countries. Following closely were India, with a record-high count of 761 projects and 99,195 rooms, Saudi Arabia with 342 projects and 92,187 rooms, and Canada with 333 projects and 44,764 rooms.
Around the world, the cities with the largest pipelines by total projects in the pipeline were Dallas, Texas, with 199 projects and a record-high 24,497 rooms, Atlanta, Georgia, with 165 projects with 19,027 rooms, and Chengdu, China, with 143 projects/25,331 rooms. Nashville, Tennessee, followed with 128 projects/17,025 rooms, and then Austin, Texas, reached record-highs of 125 projects and 14,598 rooms.
The first half of 2025 saw 970 new hotels/138,168 rooms open around the world, with an additional 1,884 new hotels/280,079 rooms scheduled to open by year-end. LE analysts forecast a total of 2,854 new hotels with 418,247 rooms to open in 2025. With the global pipeline projects at an all-time high, LE forecast that new hotel openings will continue with 2,531 new hotels/382,942 rooms expected to open by year-end 2026. LE analysts also forecast 2,554 new hotels/382,282 rooms to open worldwide by year-end 2027.
