According to Lodging Econometrics' Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report, which examines pipelines for 182 countries worldwide, the world has 11,260 hotels in various stages of development, and a whopping 1,919,370 rooms slated to open. This number is up 3 percent by projects and rooms year-over-year.
For hotels currently under construction, the global pipeline has 5,232 hotels with 986,995 rooms, down 2 percent by projects and up 1 percent by rooms year-over-year. There are 3,396 projects with 489,503 rooms scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months, up 19 percent by projects and 17 percent by rooms. Projects in the early planning stage—2,632 hotels with 442,872 rooms—are down 2 percent by projects and 4 percent by rooms.
But as HOTEL MANAGEMENT editor-in-chief David Eisen noted in his report from the Lodging Conference's "Lodging Leaders: A View from the Top" panel, while the global hotel industry may be stable, there is still a wait-and-see feeling. And as Oxford Economics' Aran Ryan pointed out in an earlier session, factors that could change the industry include the long-term impact felt by the Brexit, a Trump presidency, tighter policy controls in China, secular stagnation and fiscal loosening, which could boost the global economy.