The Q4 2023 Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics reveals that the global hotel construction pipeline hit all-time high project counts at Q4. At the close of 2023, LE analysts state that the total global construction pipeline stands at 15,196 hotels/2,367,727 rooms, a 7 percent increase in projects and a 3 percent increase in rooms year-over-year.
There are 6,160 hotels/1,096,748 rooms currently under construction worldwide at Q423, for a 2 percent increase by projects YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 3,850 hotels/536,588 rooms, for a 7 percent increase by hotels and a 5 percent increase by rooms YOY. Hotels and rooms in the early planning stage are at all-time highs and stand at 5,186 hotels/734,391 rooms, increasing 12 percent and 6 percent YOY, respectively. Additionally, the renovation and conversion pipeline globally is the highest it has ever been, reaching 3,291 hotels/510,584 rooms at the end of Q4 2023.
The top countries by project count are led by the United States, with an all-time high by projects of 5,964 hotels/693,963 rooms. Following the United States is China, reaching an all-time high of 3,788 hotels with 691,772 rooms. At Q4, the United States represents 39 percent of the projects in the total global pipeline, while China accounts for 25 percent of the projects in the total pipeline, resulting in 64 percent of all global projects in just these two countries. Distantly following are India with 514 hotels/61,075 rooms, the United Kingdom with 322 hotels/43,990 rooms, and Saudi Arabia with 300 hotels/72,761 rooms.
Three of the five cities with the largest construction pipeline totals are located in the United States at Q4: Dallas, with 193 hotels/22,291 rooms; Atlanta with 151 hotels/18,730 rooms; and Nashville with 123 hotels/16,148 rooms. Chengdu, China, also ranks among the top five cities with 148 hotels/29,575 rooms. The Provincial cities in Saudi Arabia follow with 133 hotels/28,656 rooms.
Globally, during 2023, 1,978 new hotels opened, accounting for 292,380 rooms. Six hundred thirty-six of those hotels and 94,559 rooms opened in the fourth quarter. LE analysts forecast, for 2024, an additional 2,550 new hotels with 389,799 rooms to open by year-end and another 2,804 new hotels/430,546 rooms to open in 2025.