WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(PORTSMOUTH, NH) -- A surge of new hotel openings in the seven Southeast Asia countries is expected to continue through 2010, then gradually slow down, according to new third-quarter data from Lodging Econometrics.

New construction already has slowed, the Portsmouth, NH-based research organization reports. (Click on images below for larger views.)

At the end of third quarter, 2008, Asia Pacific's total construction pipeline stood at 1,990 projects containing 466,456 rooms.

Total project counts are down 8% from the cyclical peak in second quarter 2008, with total rooms down 11%.

"The pipeline will continue to contract at an accelerating pace through 2009, particularly as new project announcements into the pipeline are expected to further taper off during the next year," according to Lodging Econometrics data.

In Asia, 62% of all pipeline projects are already under construction due to the rush to get projects started in late 2007-early 2008 before the onset of the lending crisis.

As a result, a record level of new openings is forecast through 2010. Of the 309,196 new guestrooms expected though 2010, 302,600 are already in the ground.

In China's pipeline, Shanghai leads all cities with 104 projects and 26,510 rooms.

Macau and Beijing follow with 33 projects and 23,027 rooms and 57 projects and 13,678 rooms, respectively.

Bangalore accounts for 13% of India's pipeline with 38 projects and 9,429 rooms. Hyderabad follows with 34 projects and 7,251 rooms.

Of the seven countries that make up Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Cambodia), Bangkok has the most active market with 36 projects and 8,939 rooms. Jakarta follows with 18 projects and 4,163 rooms while Phuket has 20 projects and 3,300 rooms.