THE ENGINE: HOTEL MARKET •
Left: Dallas in Texas has the largest hotel project pipeline count globally
hotel operators and owners. They create nights when demand compresses, rates hold and the value of location becomes very clear. Hotels are also learning to capture more of the opportunity through rooftop screenings, themed packages, food and beverage events and longer stays around the main fixture. CAPITAL RETURNS, BUT IT IS CHOOSY Investment is picking up too, although buyers are being selective. JLL says global hotel transaction volumes in 2025 were 22% above the 2023 trough. The Americas led the recovery, with volumes up 27%, while EMEA grew 4%. Hotels also returned to around 8% of global commercial property investment, matching the sector’s previous highs. The money is gravitating towards assets that are difficult to replicate. Luxury resorts with limited nearby supply, landmark urban hotels and properties with obvious repositioning potential are attracting attention. Stronger debt markets and large amounts of available equity are also bringing bigger transactions back into play. Japan is one of the markets investors are watching most closely. Goldman Sachs has been raising a $500 million hotel fund, while JLL expects the country to account for between 35% and 40% of Asia-Pacific hotel transaction volumes in 2026. Singapore continues to appeal as a relatively safe market, while India combines
A MARKET MOVING FORWARD Hotels entered 2026 with demand still edging upwards. STR recorded 1.4% year-on-year growth in global room demand in March, while average rates increased across the major regions in its comparison. It is not a uniform boom, but the overall direction remains positive. The US provides a good snapshot. March occupancy rose 2% to 64.9%, average daily rate increased 3.8% to US$168.06 and revenue per available room, or RevPAR, advanced 5.9%. San Francisco performed particularly strongly, with RevPAR up 38.8% as the Game Developers Conference and RSA Conference filled the city. Nineteen of the country’s 25 largest hotel markets recorded RevPAR growth. That is increasingly how the global picture looks: less a single market cycle and more a collection of local stories, powered by events, air access, domestic demand and how much new supply each destination can absorb. EVENTS PACK A PRICING PUNCH Nothing concentrates hotel demand quite like a football final, a Formula 1 weekend or a stadium full of music fans. During the final full week of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the four US markets still hosting matches recorded a combined 29% increase in average daily rate. On the night before the final, New York hotels reached 95.7% occupancy and an average rate of US$610.48, the strongest single-day performance by a US host market during the tournament. Monaco went further. Its Formula 1 Grand Prix pushed the market’s average daily rate above €4,000 (US$4,545.06) for the first time, reaching €4,082.30 ($4,638.29) on the peak night. Occupancy had touched 98.9% the previous evening, while June RevPAR more than doubled year on year. Music is proving equally powerful. Ten Bad Bunny concerts and two BTS shows helped Madrid achieve its highest June room rate and RevPAR on record. Occupancy peaked at 92.7% during the concert run, with Madrid Pride and the Puro Latino festival adding to the month’s demand. That is the appeal of major events for
GLOBAL HOTEL SNAPSHOT 2.44m Rooms in the global pipeline
1.4% Global room-demand growth, March 2026
22% Rise in hotel investment from the 2023 trough
62% Pipeline projects located in the US and China
rising domestic travel with a rapidly expanding development pipeline.
Conversions are another major part of the story. The global conversion pipeline reached a record 2,815 projects and 341,006 rooms at the end of 2025, rising 13% by project count. Add renovations and the total climbs above 540,000 rooms. The appeal is straightforward. Rebranding or converting an existing property is often faster than building from scratch, particularly where planning, finance and construction costs are difficult. Soft brands and collections also give independent hotels access to global distribution and loyalty programmes without making every property look or feel the same.
2,815 Hotel conversion projects worldwide
389,175 New rooms forecast to open in 2026
Sources: STR/CoStar; JLL; Lodging Econometrics
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