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The global hotel construction pipeline ascended to a record-high 15,871 projects with 2,436,225 rooms, up 3% by projects and 2% by rooms year-over-year (YOY) during the second quarter of the year, according to Lodging Econometrics’ (LE’s) Q2 2025 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report.
Worldwide, at the close of the second quarter, there are 6,257 projects/1,086,245 rooms under construction, unchanged on a percentage basis by projects and down 3% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months decreased 3% YOY by projects but increased 1% 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% increase in projects and a 9% increase in rooms, YOY.
Accounting for 52% of the projects in the total pipeline, the upper midscale and upscale chain scales “dominate” the global hotel construction pipeline project counts at Q2. Of that 52%, upper midscale hotel projects comprise 4,463 projects and 567,396 rooms in the total global pipeline, unchanged on a percentage basis by projects and down 1% by rooms YOY.
Upscale projects and rooms achieved record-highs at Q2, with 3,852 projects and 655,674 rooms, up 5% by projects and 3% by rooms YOY.
Notably, at Q2, upper upscale projects reached a record-high 1,807 projects with 385,396 rooms, up 6% by projects and 1% by rooms YOY. Luxury projects and rooms totals also reached record-high counts at Q2; an 11% YOY increase in projects and a 9% YOY increase in rooms, to stand at 1,267 projects/245,665 rooms.
At Q2, the top countries by project count are the United States, with 6,280 projects and 737,036 rooms, and China, with 3,733 projects and 672,224 rooms. The US accounts for 40% of the projects in the global pipeline, while China accounts for 24%, resulting in 64% of the global pipeline being concentrated within these two countries.
Following closely are 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.
Meanwhile, around the world, the cities with the largest pipelines by total projects in the pipeline are 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, follows with 128 projects/17,025 rooms, and then Austin, Texas, reaching record-highs of 125 projects and 14,598 rooms.
In addition, it found 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 forecasts that new hotel openings will continue with 2,531 new hotels/382,942 rooms expected to open by year-end 2026. And, announcing for the first time, LE analysts forecast 2,554 new hotels/382,282 rooms to open worldwide by year-end 2027.
