Global hotel construction pipeline posted a healthy growth in the first quarter and touched a new high for room counts, signaling an impressive jump in full-service projects, a recent study has revealed. According to the latest report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the total global hotel pipeline increased by 6% in projects and 3% in rooms YOY to stand at 15,366 projects/2,382,195 rooms.
By the end of Q1 2024, there are 6,195 projects/1,101,602 rooms under construction across the world. In the next 12 months, 3,840 projects/528,251 rooms are anticipated to start construction, representing an increase of 8% by projects and 5% by rooms YOY. Projects and rooms in the early planning stages also soared to new levels, standing at 5,331 projects/752,342 rooms (up 12% and 9% YOY, respectively).
The top end of the chain scale saw a considerable increase in developments. Although it is a comparatively smaller part of the overall hospitality portfolio, the sector is witnessing strong investment activity globally.
By the end of the first quarter, full-service branded and unbranded developments dominate the pipeline, the study noted. Luxury hotel projects and room counts surged 12% increase by projects and a 6% increase by rooms YOY to stand at a record 1,215 projects/239,744 rooms. The upper-upscale segment pipeline stood at 1,999 projects/445,207 rooms, up 7% by projects and 5% by rooms YOY; while upscale developments jumped to a record 4,093 projects with 711,510 rooms, up 7% by projects and 4% by rooms YOY.
Casinos also increased 6% by projects and 3% by rooms YOY to stand at 53 projects/25,023 rooms.
Countries with the highest number of full-service projects:
- The U.S.: 2,272 projects/341,854 rooms
- China: 1,688 projects/414,323 rooms
- India: 334 projects/46,586 rooms
- Saudi Arabia: 270 projects/62,744 rooms
- Vietnam: 186 projects/61,426 rooms
Together, these five countries represented 86% of the full-service projects in the overall global pipeline.
Cities with the largest full-service pipeline:
- Chengdu, China: 80 projects/21,130 rooms
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 75 projects/15,025 rooms
- Dallas, Texas: 75 projects/10,434 rooms
- Los Angeles, Calif.: 68 projects/13,188 rooms
- Shanghai, China: 67 projects/16,569 rooms
The first quarter saw 177 new full-service hotels opening globally, which accounted for 32,611 rooms with upscale projects comprising more than 50% of these openings.
Upscale hotel developments will continue to dominate the projects set to open from the overall full-service pipeline for the rest of this year and through 2025, according to LE analysis. However, in the following three quarters, an additional 952 new full-service hotels (representing 181,148 rooms) are expected to open, which will see a total of 1,129 new full-service hotels with 213,759 rooms opening by the end of this year.
In 2025, another 1,260 new full-service hotels/244,275 rooms are projected to open across the world.