According to the Q2 2023 Latin America Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, the region’s total construction pipeline includes 552 hotels with 88,477 rooms.
At the close of the quarter, there are 227 hotels with 38,675 rooms presently under construction, projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 158 hotels with 25,091 rooms and projects currently in early planning stand at 167 hotels with 24,711 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage experienced the most growth at Q2, increasing 17 percent by projects and 21 percent by rooms, year-over-year.
Twenty-seven projects accounting for 3,796 rooms started construction in Q2 of 2023. New projects announced into the pipeline during the first half of 2023 are up 25 percent by projects over the first half of 2022, with 50 hotels and 7,331 rooms.
Top Markets
Countries with the most projects in the construction pipeline include Mexico with 213 hotels and 33,853 rooms. Next is Brazil with 85 hotels and 14,772 rooms, the Dominican Republic with 33 hotels and 7,071 rooms, Peru with 27 hotels and 3,322 rooms and Argentina with 18 hotels and 1,932 rooms. Together, these five countries account for 68 percent of the projects and 69 percent of the rooms in the total pipeline.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines at the Q2 close are led by Mexico City with 23 hotels and 2,691 rooms; Lima, Peru, with 15 hotels and 2,056 rooms; Riviera Maya, Mexico, with 14 hotels and 1,956 rooms; Sao Paulo with 12 hotels and 3,012 rooms; and Georgetown, Guyana, with 12 hotels and 1,558 rooms.
Top Companies
Top hotel franchise companies in Latin America’s construction pipeline are Marriott with 116 projects and 18,733 rooms, Hilton with record-high project counts for the company in the region of 105 hotels and 14,207 rooms, IHG Hotels & Resorts with 76 hotels and 10,225 rooms, Accor with 74 hotels and 9,608 rooms and Hyatt Hotels with 33 hotels and 8,909 rooms. These five companies make up 73 percent of hotels and 70 percent of rooms in the total pipeline and are forecast to see the highest number of new hotel openings in 2024 and 2025.
The top brands in Latin America at Q2 2023 are Accor’s Ibis brands at 48 hotels and 6,228 rooms, Hilton’s Garden Inn with record project counts of 27 hotels and 3,465 rooms and its Hampton by Hilton brands with 21 hotels and 2,522 rooms. These are followed by Marriott’s Courtyard brand with 13 hotels and 1,801 rooms and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 13 hotels and 1,566 rooms.
In the first half of 2023, 30 new hotels with 5,353 rooms opened in Latin America with an additional 59 new hotels and 10,344 rooms scheduled to open before year-end. Next year, 105 new hotels with 15,970 rooms are poised to open throughout the region and LE analysts forecast 2025 will have 123 new hotels with 16,957 rooms open.