Hotel construction activity slowed YOY across all four world regions, with Asia Pacific coming closest to its 2022 comparable, according to the March pipeline data from STR.
March 2023 (changes in percentage compared to March 2022):
Americas
- In construction: 197,844 rooms (-4.5%)
- Final planning: 278,383 rooms (-19.6%)
- Planning: 277,598 rooms (+32.2%)
- Total under contract: 753,825 (-1.2%)
The U.S. has the majority of rooms in construction in the region. The U.S. was followed by Mexico (10,803), Canada (5,899) and Brazil (5,549), with the highest number of rooms in construction.
Europe
- In construction: 184,851 rooms (-18.2%)
- Final planning: 133,580 rooms (-15.9%)
- Planning: 156,095 rooms (-5.4%)
- Total under contract: 474,526 (-13.7%)
Germany (34,030) and the U.K. (29,160) led the region in terms of total rooms in construction.
Asia Pacific
- In construction: 476,993 rooms (-0.8%)
- Final planning: 105,435 rooms (-29.6%)
- Planning: 322,507 (+1.9%)
- Total under contract: 904,935 rooms (-4.4%)
Among countries in the region, China has the highest number of rooms in construction (299,458), followed by Vietnam (36,358).
Middle East & Africa
- In construction: 119,505 rooms (-5.8%)
- Final planning: 45,529 rooms (+20.4%)
- Planning: 84,116 rooms (+21.2%)
- Total under contract: 249,150 (+6.4%)
Most of the region’s pipeline activity is focused on the Middle East. Saudi Arabia (42,033) and the U.A.E. (22,324) led construction activity.
According to a recent report by Lodging Econometrics, the total global construction pipeline at the end of 2022 increased marginally after remaining flat for three consecutive years due to the pandemic. The global construction pipeline was up 4% YOY to 14,267 projects and 2,298,846 rooms. While most of the global regions remained the same in terms of project counts YOY, the U.S., Canada and Asia Pacific saw an upward trend in pipelines.