New hotel openings in Asia-Pacific expected to proceed as owners bet on travel recovering after the pandemic

In January, 150,000 new hotel rooms were predicted to open across the Asia-Pacific region this year. When Covid-19 struck, tourism died off and hotels emptied

Now, some operators are counting on a rebound in demand and will open new hotels, if only to attract domestic travellers and draw diners to their restaurants

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An artist’s rendering of the Andaz Shenzhen hotel, which Marriott International plans to open in Shenzhen, southern China, this year.

Published: 9:15pm, 5 Jul 2020Updated: 5:53pm, 6 Jul 2020

At the beginning of this year – before coronavirus sent the travel industry into a tailspin – analysts were predicting a bumper year for Asian hotels.

London-based Smith Travel Research (STR), which tracks eight million rooms in 67,000 hotels across 180 countries, forecast that between 140,000 and 150,000 rooms would come on stream across Asia-Pacific by December 31. But within weeks, social distancing had replaced globetrotting, fleets of aircraft were standing idle, and hotels that normally welcomed a steady stream of cashed-up business and leisure travellers had been forced to close their doors.

Faced with multimillion-dollar assets standing empty, staff twiddling their thumbs and the prospect of heavy losses, the industry’s bigger players are now making a cautious attempt at a comeback.

Next month, Marriott is planning to open three properties in China, including a Ritz-Carlton in Nanjing, and five in Japan, while a further 11 across the region are expected to welcome their first guests by the end of December. Hyatt is also focusing on the Chinese market, with Shenzhen and Xiamen earmarked for the group’s Andaz brand, while further afield, both Jakarta and Auckland are in line for a Park Hyatt by year’s end.

Marriott International plans to open more than a dozen Asia-Pacific hotels this year. Photo: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Other hotel groups have similarly ambitious plans. Accor aims to add 20,000 rooms to its portfolio this year, with two new hotels in Japan, more than 30 in Southeast Asia, and 94 in China. Given that nobody knows when or if coronavirus will be eradicated, it seems like a business strategy with more than an element of risk.