According to the Q4 2023 Latin America Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, hotel and room counts in the region’s total construction pipeline each increased by 11 percent each year over year to stand at 594 hotels and 97,679 rooms at the close of the quarter.
At Q4, hotels currently in the under construction stage account for nearly half of the hotels and rooms in Latin America’s total pipeline. Hotels under construction stand at 238 hotels with 42,644 rooms, up 7 percent by hotels and 6 percent by rooms year over year. Hotels scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 172 hotels with 27,625 rooms, up 9 percent by hotels and 16 percent by rooms year over year. Projects in early planning stand at 184 hotels with 27,410, up 18 percent by hotels and 15 percent by rooms year over year at the Q4 close. Notably, new hotels announced into the Latin America hotel construction pipeline during Q4 were up 43 percent by hotels and 33 percent by rooms year over year, with 57 hotels and 9,303 rooms.
Luxury, upper upscale and upscale projects dominate the projects in the region’s total pipeline at Q4, accounting for 58 percent of the total hotels and 64 percent of the total rooms. At the close of the quarter, luxury hotels in the region’s hotel construction pipeline reached record highs, with 106 projects accounting for 22,400 rooms. Upper upscale hotels in the pipeline also reached record-high counts, with 108 hotels and 21,414 rooms. Projects in the upscale chain stand at 129 hotels with 18,358 rooms, up 12 percent and 13 percent respectively year over year.
Top Markets
The top countries by project count in the total Latin America pipeline at Q4 are led by Mexico with 226 hotels and 35,670 rooms, up 11 percent by hotels and 7 percent by rooms year over year, and account for 38 percent of the hotels in the region’s total pipeline at Q4. Brazil follows with 86 hotels and 13,516 rooms, followed by the Dominican Republic with record hotels and room counts of 48 hotels and 12,911 rooms, nearly doubling in hotels counts compared to Q4 2022. Next is Peru, with 25 hotels and 3,336 rooms, and then Argentina, with 22 hotels and 2,448 rooms.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines include Mexico City, Mexico, with 22 hotels and 2,531 rooms; Lima, Peru, with 14 hotels and 2,169 rooms; Georgetown, Guyana, with 13 hotels and 1,678 rooms; Riviera Maya, Mexico, with 13 hotels and 1,536 rooms; and São Paulo, Brazil, with 12 hotels and 2,787 rooms.
Through the fourth quarter of 2023, 62 new hotels with 10,690 rooms opened in Latin America. Looking ahead, LE analysts forecast the number of new hotel openings in Latin America to increase to 114 new hotels with 19,464 rooms in 2024. Throughout 2025, LE is forecasting that the region will open 109 new hotels and 18,502 rooms.