According to the Q2 2026 Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, the global hotel construction pipeline reaches a new all-time high project count with 15,976 hotels and 2,433,948 rooms.
There are 6,174 hotels and 1,043,290 rooms currently under construction worldwide at Q2 2026. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 3,743 hotels and 530,326 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage reach record highs, standing at 6,059 hotels and 860,332 rooms, showing a 5 percent increase in projects and an 8 percent increase in rooms year over year.
Globally, 974 new project announcements, totaling 138,743 rooms, were made in the second quarter, while 602 projects totaling 83,232 rooms began construction.
The global brand conversion pipeline reaches record highs with 2,927 hotels and 351,257 rooms, up 12 percent by projects and 17 percent by rooms year over year. Combined hotel renovations and brand conversions stand at 3,760 hotels and 521,849 rooms, up 8 percent by projects and 5 percent by rooms year over year.
The luxury chain scale reaches record highs with 1,385 hotels and 257,947 rooms, up 8 percent by projects and 3 percent by rooms year over year. The upper upscale chain scale also achieves record highs with 1,923 hotels and 396,483 rooms, increasing 8 percent by projects and 4 percent by rooms year over year. The upscale chain scale reaches record high project totals of 3,918 hotels and 659,976 rooms, up 1 percent by projects year over year, while the upper midscale chain scale reaches record high project totals of 4,632 hotels and 578,432 rooms, up 3 percent by projects year over year.
Top Markets
The top countries by project count continue to be led by the United States with 5,975 hotels and 703,001 rooms. China follows with 3,588 hotels and 632,256 rooms. The United States represents 37 percent of the projects in the total global pipeline, while China accounts for 22 percent, resulting in 59 percent of all global projects in these two countries. Notable growth is seen in India, which reaches record highs with 1,033 hotels and 137,601 rooms, showing remarkable increases of 36 percent in projects and 39 percent in rooms year over year. Saudi Arabia also reaches record highs with 387 hotels and 105,648 rooms, up 13 percent by projects and 15 percent by rooms year over year. Canada reaches record high project and room totals with 345 hotels and 47,874 rooms, up 4 percent by projects and 7 percent by rooms year over year.
The cities with the greatest number of projects in the hotel construction pipeline are led by Dallas with 183 hotels and 22,840 rooms. Atlanta follows with 157 hotels and 17,423 rooms. Next is the international city of Chengdu, which ranks third with 127 hotels and 22,785 rooms, followed by Nashville with 122 hotels and 16,281 rooms, and Guangzhou which rounds out the top five with 120 hotels and 24,633 rooms.
Regional record-highs continue across the globe. Asia Pacific overall reaches record high project totals with 6,094 hotels and 1,085,228 rooms, up 4 percent by projects year over year, and the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) reaches record high project and room totals with 2,506 hotels and 452,972 rooms, up 17 percent by projects and 11 percent by rooms year over year. The Middle East reaches record high project totals with 724 hotels and 178,003 rooms, up 11 percent by projects year over year. Africa also reaches record high project and room totals with 343 hotels and 52,526 rooms, up 15 percent by projects and 16 percent by rooms year over year.
For the full year 2025, 2,438 new hotels opened worldwide, accounting for 332,699 rooms. LE analysts forecast 2,742 new hotels with 379,921 rooms to open by year-end 2026. Looking further ahead, LE forecasts 2,590 new hotels with 389,412 rooms to open in 2027. For the first time, LE is announcing its 2028 new hotel openings forecast, projecting 2,499 new hotels with 361,430 rooms to open globally that year.