Hotel Development Pipeline Reaches Record High

(Image courtesy of Max Vakhtbovycn/pexels.com)

The hotel development pipeline continues to grow, according to data firm Lodging Econometrics, Portsmouth, N.H.

There were 6,065 hotel projects with 702,990 rooms in the pipeline as the first quarter closed, Lodging Econometrics’ U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report said.

“This new all-time high represents a 9% year-over-year increase in projects and a 7% YOY increase in rooms compared to last year,” the report said.

All stages of the pipeline saw year-over-year growth in the first quarter, LE said. There are 1,144 projects with 141,336 rooms currently under construction, marking a 9% increase in projects and a 1% increase in rooms from a year ago. Hotel projects slated to start construction in the next 12 months total 2,259 properties with 260,968 rooms, a 10% rise in projects and an 8% increase in rooms year-over-year.

“Of all the projects in the pipeline, a little over half of them are concentrated within the upscale, upper-midscale and midscale chain scales. In Q1, the upper-midscale and midscale segments hit record-high project and room counts,” the report said. “The luxury chain scale also reached a record-high project total in Q1.”

LE also noted the dominance of extended-stay brands in the pipeline. These brands now account for 37% of projects under construction and 41% of projects scheduled to begin within the next 12 months. More than 60% of the extended-stay projects in the pipeline are within the middle-tier extended-stay segment.