According to Lodging Econometrics’ Construction Pipeline Trend Report for the first quarter of 2021, the Latin America hotel construction pipeline stands at 604 hotels and 104,275 rooms, down 14 percent by projects and 16 percent by rooms, year over year. These are the lowest project and room counts seen in the region since Q2 2012.
Projects currently under construction at the end of Q1 2021 at 323 hotels and 60,332 rooms. The number of projects in this stage remains unchanged year over year, but it does show a 5 percent increase in rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months saw an 11 percent decrease year over year, but a slight increase since Q4 2020, totaling 181 hotels and 27,773 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage experienced a 43 percent decline year over year, standing at 100 projects, accounting for 16,170 rooms.
Throughout the past four quarters, 56 new hotels and 10,806 rooms opened in Latin America. This is the fewest number of openings the region has seen in this real estate cycle, with 15 of the 56 openings occurring in the first quarter of 2021. This brings the count of open and operating hotels in Latin America to 11,202 hotels with 1,183,365 rooms. LE expects 95 hotels and 16,781 rooms to open by year end 2021 and 124 hotels and 20,027 rooms to open in 2022.
Top Markets, Top Brands
The top country for hotel construction in Latin America are Mexico, with 215 hotels and 37,786 rooms. Brazil follows with 114 hotels and 17,449 rooms, a record low for this country in project and room numbers. Next is Peru with 38 hotels and 4,978 rooms, then the Dominican Republic with 24 hotels and 4,972 rooms, and Cuba stands at 19 hotels and 6,703 rooms.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines include Lima, Peru, with 28 hotels and 4,052 rooms; Mexico City with 24 hotels and 3,584 rooms; Guadalajara, Mexico, with 20 hotels and 2,803 rooms; Cancun, Mexico with 16 hotels and 8,969 rooms; and Sao Paulo with 14 hotels and 2,443 rooms.
Hotel franchise companies with the largest construction pipelines in Latin America are Marriott International with 103 hotels and 16,245 rooms, Hilton at a record high 98 hotels and 14,090 rooms, Accor with 96 hotels and 12,666 rooms, and IHG Hotels & Resorts with 58 hotels and 6,792 rooms.
Leading brands in the pipeline are Accor’s Ibis Hotels with 66 hotels and 8,476 rooms. Hilton Garden Inn follows with 26 hotels and 3,622 rooms; next is Hampton by Hilton with 24 hotels and 2,863 rooms.