According to the Lodging Econometrics 2021 year-end Construction Pipeline Trend Report for Latin America, the total hotel construction pipeline at the end of 2021’s fourth quarter stood at 563 hotels and 101,523 rooms. The region’s pipeline experienced an 11 percent decline in projects and a 7 percent decrease in rooms, year over year, in Q4.
At the close of Q4 2021, projects under construction stand at 281 hotels and 58,813 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 147 hotels and 20,732 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage stand at 135 hotels and 21,978 rooms. New projects announced for the pipeline during 2021 were up 4 percent by projects, but down 1 percent by rooms year over year with 139 hotels and 27,811 rooms compared to the 150 hotels and 20,522 rooms announced in 2020.
Top Markets
The top five countries for hotel construction in Latin America are Mexico with 207 hotels and 38,671 rooms. Brazil, which historically has had the largest construction pipeline in the region, saw record low project and room totals in Q4 with 97 hotels and 15,901 rooms. Following Brazil is Peru, with 32 hotels and 3,903 rooms, then the Dominican Republic with 21 hotels and 4,874 rooms, and Columbia stands at 19 hotels and 2,913 rooms. Collectively, these five countries account for 67 percent of projects and 65 percent of rooms in the region’s total pipeline.
At Q4 2021, cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines include Mexico City, Mexico, with 23 hotels and 3,291 rooms; Lima, Peru, with 22 hotels and 2,977 rooms; Cancun, Mexico, with 19 hotels and 10,216 rooms; Guadalajara, Mexico, with 19 hotels and 2,520 rooms; and Sao Paulo, Brazil, with 14 hotels and 2,690 rooms.
Top Companies
Hotel franchise companies with the largest construction pipelines in Latin America are Marriott International with 103 hotels and 16,200 rooms, Hilton with 102 hotels and 15,716 rooms, Accor with 81 hotels and 10,281 rooms, IHG with 58 hotels and 6,686 rooms and Hyatt Hotels with 33 hotels and 8,192 rooms. These five companies account for 67 percent of the projects in the total construction pipeline at Q4 2021 and are forecast to see the highest number of new hotel openings in 2022 and 2023.
Leading brands in the pipeline are Accor’s Ibis brand with 57 hotels and 7,165 rooms, Hilton Garden Inn with 24 hotels and 3,290 rooms, and Hampton by Hilton with 22 hotels and 2,669 rooms. These are followed by Hyatt’s AMR Collection with 13 hotels and 4,637 rooms and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express brand with 13 hotels and 1,538 rooms.
Twenty-eight new hotels accounting for 4,737 rooms opened in the fourth quarter. For all of 2021, a total of 88 new hotels with 14,929 rooms opened in Latin America, bringing the region’s supply count of open and operating hotels to 11,256 properties with 1,192,964 rooms at the end of 2021.
Looking ahead, LE analysts expect the number of new hotel openings in Latin America to increase to 114 new hotels with 20,878 rooms in 2022. Analysts expect the region to get 131 new hotels with 20,427 rooms in 2023.