Hotel development in the Asia Pacific region is accelerating, according to STR’s latest pipeline report.

In total there are now 270,976 rooms under construction in the region, which marks an 8.5% increase compared to this time last year.

And the higher end of the market accounts for the majority of this development – 176,450 rooms, or 65% of the total, are classed as upscale, upper-upscale or luxury hotels.

The strongest growth however, was seen in the economy hotel sector; STR revealed that there are now 3,531 economy rooms under construction in Asia Pacific, which marks a 79.8% year-on-year jump. This sector remains the smallest however, in terms of absolute room numbers.

The total Asia Pacific hotel pipeline, including hotels still in the planning phases, now stands at 612,210 rooms in 2,767 projects – up 6.2% year-on-year in terms of rooms.