There is mounting evidence that the precipitous economic declines in many countries in Asia Pacific may be close to ending.

A bottom is likely forming, hopefully to be followed by a modest recovery.

Declines from the peak were caused mainly by the dramatic fall-off in the region's manufactured exports brought on by the worldwide recession and the drying up of cross-border financing. Like in other regions of the world, the new economic base line will be significantly below the 2007 highs.

To halt the decline, both China and India are making huge investments in infrastructure improvements and are counting heavily on rising consumer spending. China is also depending on a renewed emphasis in directed lending by its government-owned banks, particularly for real estate development, to generate additional job opportunities.

Construction Pipeline activity throughout the region peaked in the first half of 2008 in time for an expected rush of visitors for the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, with China seeing a rash of New Hotel Openings in 2007 and 2008.

Not surprisingly, Pipeline Totals in China have shown the largest percentage decline of any region in the world since the peak, down 22% for projects and 20% for rooms.

However, China's Pipeline is still the second largest in the world with 964 projects/260,560 rooms under development. 65% of the projects are high-end hotels, primarily in the 25 largest cities. Most have global brands. 57% are larger than 200 rooms, with the overall average hotel size at a very high 270 rooms.

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Jennifer Robertson, Marketing Manager Lodging Econometrics
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