According to Lodging Econometrics' "Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report," as of the close of 2022, the total global construction pipeline stands at 14,267 projects, a 4 percent increase year over year, with 2,298,846 rooms. The global pipeline has remained relatively flat for three consecutive years, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, after reaching peak project and room counts in Q4 2019. However, three of the seven world regions tracked by LE—the United States, Canada and Asia Pacific—continue to have pipelines trending upward year over year. The remaining regions stayed largely unchanged by project counts.
At the close of the year, there were 6,035 hotels and 1,091,929 rooms under construction worldwide, down 1 percent by projects and 4 percent by rooms year over year. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 3,591 hotels and 510,969 rooms, up 1 percent by projects year over year and down 1 percent by rooms. Worldwide at Q4, project and room counts in the early planning stage are at all-time highs and stand at 4,641 hotels and 695,948 rooms, up 13 percent by projects and 7 percent by rooms year over year. Also of note, conversions and renovations around the world reached peak project counts at the close of 2022. Conversion counts stand at 1,751 hotels and 214,880 rooms, up 21 percent by projects and 13 percent by rooms year over year, while renovations closed the quarter standing at 1,241 hotels and 212,219 rooms, up 64 percent by projects and 42 percent by rooms year over year.
Top Markets, Top Brands
The top countries for new hotel construction by project count at Q4 2022 are led by the United States with 5,465 hotels and 650,626 rooms, and China with 3,581 hotels and 675,074 rooms. These two countries account for 63 percent of the projects in the total global construction pipeline, with the United States claiming 38 percent of the projects and China accounting for 25 percent. Distantly following are India with 383 hotels and 47,539 rooms, the United Kingdom with 295 hotels and 43,332 rooms, and Canada with 267 hotels and 35,758 rooms.
The top five cities with the largest construction pipeline totals at the Q422 close are in the United States and China. Those are Dallas, with record project counts of 176 hotels and 20,790 rooms; Atlanta, with 145 hotels and 18,100 rooms; Chengdu, China, with 132 hotels and 26,891 rooms; Los Angeles, with 122 hotels and 19,419 rooms; and Shanghai, with 117 hotels and 22,539 rooms.
The leading franchise companies in the global construction pipeline by project count at the Q422 close are Marriott International, with 2,656 hotels and 429,007 rooms; Hilton, with 2,661 hotels and 384,498 rooms; IHG Hotels & Resorts, with 1,736 hotels and 257,145 rooms; Accor, with 932 hotels and 163,955 rooms; and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, with 722 hotels and 95,766 rooms. These five companies account for 61 percent of all projects in the global pipeline.
The brands with the greatest number of projects in the pipeline for each of these companies are Hilton’s upper-midscale Hampton by Hilton brand, with 770 hotels and 100,246 rooms; IHG’s upper-midscale brand Holiday Inn Express, with 598 hotels and 74,729 rooms; Marriott’s upper-midscale brand, Fairfield Inn, with 349 hotels and 42,596 rooms; Accor’s midscale and economy Ibis brands with 254 hotels and 31,657 rooms; and the upper-midscale La Quinta brand by Wyndham with 135 hotels and 11,363 rooms.
Throughout 2022, a total of 1,842 new hotels with 284,814 rooms opened worldwide; 469 of those hotels and 77,018 rooms opened in the fourth quarter of 2022. LE analysts forecast that 2,480 new hotels, accounting for 380,736 rooms, will open in 2023 and another 2,707 new hotels with 416,173 rooms are forecast to open by year-end 2024.