LE: Worldwide hotel pipeline up 5% YOY

If hotel occupancy is down, hotel development is certainly up. According to the latest "Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report" from Lodging Econometrics, the global hotel construction pipeline stands at 14,779 hotels with 2,412,736 rooms. Year-over-year, the pipeline increased 5 percent by projects and 4 percent by rooms with several stages of the pipeline hitting their peaks by project and rooms counts.
 
The number of rooms currently under construction is at an all-time high with 1,230,572 rooms in development in 6,896 hotels. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are also hitting a peak project count to end the second quarter with 4,599 hotels and 651,133 rooms. There are an additional 3,283 hotels and 531,031 rooms in the early planning stage of the pipeline.

Top Countries, Top Cities

The top countries by project count are the U.S. with 5,582 hotels and 687,801 rooms and China reaching a new all-time high with 3,574 hotels and 647,704 rooms. The two countries combined have 62 percent of all global projects in the pipeline, with the U.S. accounting for 38 percent of projects in the total global construction pipeline and China accounting for 24 percent. Distantly following are the United Kingdom with 350 hotels and 52,398 rooms, Indonesia with 345 hotels and 56,373 rooms and Germany with 296 hotels and 39,645 rooms.
 

Around the world, the cities with the largest pipeline counts are Los Angeles with 163 hotels and 27,415 rooms, Dallas with 158 hotels and 19,314 rooms and New York City with 151 hotels and 26,302 rooms. Dubai follows with 144 hotels and 44,895 rooms, then Guangzhou in China with 140 hotels and 27,753 rooms and Atlanta with 135 hotels and 18,634 rooms.

Top Companies, Top Brands

The leading franchise companies in the global construction pipeline by project count are Marriott International with 2,682 hotels and 452,459 rooms, Hilton with 2,532 hotels and 378,124 rooms, IHG with 1,798 hotels and 263,057 rooms and Accor with 886 hotels and 157,362 rooms. These four companies account for 53 percent of all projects in the global pipeline.
 
Brands leading in the pipeline for each of these companies are Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 431 hotels and 50,249 rooms, Hampton by Hilton with 775 hotels and 102,815 rooms, IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 712 hotels and 90,479 rooms and Accor’s Ibis Brands with 319 hotels and 44,817 rooms.
 
Throughout the first half of 2020, 891 hotels with a total of 131,921 rooms opened worldwide.