Hotel construction pipeline has improved globally at the close of the second quarter. With the total pipeline totaling rising 3% YOY by projects and 1% YOY by rooms to stand at 14,572 projects/2,310,238, luxury, upper upscale and upper midscale chains mostly dominate the pipeline, according to the latest global construction pipeline trend report from Lodging Econometrics.
Globally, there were 6,154 projects/1,108,498 rooms under construction, 3,679 projects/506,760 rooms expected to start construction in the next 12 months and 4,739 projects/694,980 rooms in the early planning stage, the report said.
Luxury, upper upscale and upper midscale chains also reached record project counts at the close of the second quarter, representing 47% of the projects in the total pipeline. Out of that, upper midscale hotel projects comprise 29% of the projects in the total global pipeline, with a record 4,236 projects and 558,159 rooms.
Upper upscale projects stand at 1,653 projects/374,407 rooms in Q2, while luxury hotel projects increased 10% YOY to close the quarter at 909 projects/180,538 rooms.
Three franchise companies leading the construction pipeline by project count were Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International and IHG Hotels & Resorts. These three companies accounted for 50% of the projects in the total global pipeline.
Franchise companies with the highest pipelines globally:
- Hilton — 2,808 projects/398,742 rooms
- Marriott — 2,679 projects/429,925 rooms
- IHG — 1,764 projects/259,668 rooms
- Accor — 930 projects/160,951 rooms
- Hyatt — 417 projects/77,238 rooms
Brands with the highest global pipeline:
- Hilton’s Hampton Inn brand — 790 projects/102,607 rooms
- IHG’s Holiday Inn Express — 599 projects/74,036 rooms
- Marriott’s TownePlace Suites — 364 projects/34,125 rooms
- Accor’s Novotel brand — 137 projects/26,474 rooms
- Hyatt’s Hyatt Place brand — 105 projects/16,408 rooms
Countries with the highest pipeline:
- The U.S. — 5,572 projects/660,061 rooms
- China — 3,666 projects/678,965 rooms
- India — 480 projects/57,161 rooms
- The U.K. — 322 projects/45,181 rooms
- Saudi Arabia — 276 projects/72,144 rooms
Global markets with the highest pipelines:
- Dallas — 184 projects/21,501 rooms
- Atlanta — 141 projects/17,993 rooms
- Chengdu — 140 projects/27,890 rooms
- Phoenix — 119 projects/16,107 rooms
- Shanghai — 117 projects/22,887 rooms
Out of the 11 markets with more than 100 projects in their total pipelines, seven were in the U.S., three in China and one in Saudi Arabia.
In H1 2023, a total of 868 new hotels opened globally, accounting for 129,047 rooms, with an additional 1,663 hotels/251,468 rooms expected to open by the end of this year.
According to LE predictions, 2,531 new hotels/380,515 rooms are projected to open this year. In 2024, new openings will reach 2,674 hotels, accounting for 415,699 rooms. In 2025, 2,701 new hotels/429,006 rooms are expected to open worldwide.