Worldwide hotel pipeline figures for July compiled by STR Global were released on Thursday, showing the lion’s share of development going to the Asia/Pacific region.
The Asia/Pacific hotel development pipeline in July comprised 1,244 hotels totaling 306,537 rooms. Among the region’s countries, China ended the month with the largest number of rooms in the In Construction phase with 120,298 rooms. Four other countries reported more than 5,000 rooms under construction: India (29,127 rooms); Thailand (9,182 rooms); Vietnam (8,554 rooms) and Indonesia (6,456 rooms).
All of the other regions’ pipelines were far less than Asia/Pacific’s with Europe and Middle East/Africa dominating.
The Europe hotel development pipeline comprised 800 hotels totaling 130,260 rooms in July. Among the key markets in the region, London ended the month with the largest number of rooms under construction with 4,506 rooms (of the 9,918 rooms in the market’s total active pipeline). Other markets to report a significant number of rooms under construction: Istanbul (2,438 rooms); Stockholm (1,706 rooms); Berlin (1,436 rooms) and Manchester, U.K. (1,431 rooms).
The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprised 460 hotels totaling 125,268 rooms in July. Among the countries in the region, Qatar ended the month with the largest expected room growth (+78.3%) if all 6,604 rooms in the total active pipeline open. Other countries to report significant expected room growth: Oman (+57.9% with 3,734 rooms); United Arab Emirates (+55.7% with 48,071 rooms); Bahrain (+49% with 3,155 rooms) and Algeria (+47.9% with 1,619 rooms).
The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprised 125 hotels totaling 18,709 rooms in July. Among the countries in the region, Haiti reported the largest expected growth (29.4%) if all 492 rooms in the total active pipeline open. Five other countries reported expected growth of more than 5%: Anguilla (+28.8% with 220 rooms); St. Kitts/Nevis (+11.7% with 235 rooms); Turks & Caicos (+10.6% with 327 rooms); the Bahamas (+9.8% with 1,604 rooms) and St. Lucia (+5.6% with 245 rooms).
The Central/South America hotel development pipeline comprised 170 hotels totaling 27,457 rooms in July.