Global pipeline snapshot: U.S., Asia-Pacific lead

Globally, there are a total of 7,078 hotel projects/1,277,339 rooms in the construction pipeline as of the end of Q3 2011. Seventy-seven percent of the world’s total pipeline projects and 76 percent of rooms are in the Top 10 countries. With 1,385 projects and 396,804 rooms at the end of Q3, China’s total pipeline has surpassed that of the United States by 48,874 rooms. China’s economy weathered global recessionary trends with minimal impact. As such, the pipeline rebounded quickly from modest declines and now exceeds the previous Q2 2008 peak, with totals up 12 percent by projects and 22 percent by rooms.

UNITED STATES

The United States’ construction pipeline has a total of 2,851 projects and 347,930 rooms. The lack of available financing and continued economic uncertainty remain major obstacles to construction pipeline growth. At 1,609 projects and 201,576 rooms, 56 percent of U.S. pipeline projects and 58 percent of rooms are in the early planning stage. This is largely due to the fact that new project announcements are entering the pipeline at this stage and not being fast-tracked, as developers wait for the overall economy to recover more substantially and financing to become more available.

INDIA

India’s total pipeline is at 375 projects and 70,668 rooms. New hotel openings in India have accelerated and should reach a new high in 2012, which will likely draw down pipeline totals.

BRAZIL

Brazil, with a total of 208 projects and 32,406 rooms, now has the world’s fourth-largest pipeline. Franchise companies and developers are eager to get a foothold in the country, especially since it will be hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. A high 51 percent of pipeline rooms are currently under construction, which will lead to rising new hotel openings through 2013 and beyond.
united kingdom

At 207 projects and 27,144 rooms, the United Kingdom’s total pipeline is the fifth largest for a country. Twenty-eight percent of the UK’s total projects and 32 percent of rooms are in London, which is in the midst of preparing for the 2014 Olympic Games.

ASIA PACIFIC

Lodging Econometrics projects a total of 513 new hotels and 147,974 rooms to open in this region. We also adjusted forecasts for 2011 and 2012 upward due to the continued escalation in the number of pipeline projects currently under construction. 854 hotels and 135,644 rooms are now expected come online in 2011, then 646 hotels comprising 148,216 rooms in 2012.

A lion’s share of the region’s new openings belong to China, which will have the largest number of hotels entering current supply of any country in the world over the next three years. LE’s forecast expects a total of 707 new hotels and 111,118 rooms in 2011, 467 hotels and 114,466 rooms in 2012, then 345 hotels and 113,705 rooms in 2013. While the number of rooms coming online is holding essentially flat, the number of hotels is trending down significantly. This is due to the number of larger-scale projects slated to exit the pipeline, with the average new hotel size doubling from 157 rooms in 2011 to 330 rooms in 2013.