According to the report, China remains the focal point of lodging construction in Asia Pacific. China has the world’s highest percentage of projects currently under construction at 73%.
The global economic slowdown, financing difficulties and double-digit declines in occupancy resulted in fewer new project announcements and a peak in cancellations/postponements.
However, rapid government action to stimulate the economy and further direct lending for real estate development appears to have reduced the severity and duration of the impact of the global recession experienced by the rest of the world.
Hotel News Now says the numbers surged earlier in the decade as China was preparing to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the upcoming 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, as well as the accelerating profile of Shanghai as a leading world financial hub. As a result, new hotel openings peaked at an exceptionally high 856 hotels/140,852 rooms in 2008. These have since moderated.