Among the U.S. regions, the West North Central region reported the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 22.2 percent over last year with 20,429 rooms in the pipeline. Three other regions reported increases of more than 15 percent: the Mountain region (+19.4 percent); the Pacific region (+19.1 percent); and the West South Central region (+18.1 percent).
HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE – The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,924 projects totaling 358,228 rooms, according to the February 2014 STR Pipeline Report. This represents an 11.8-percent increase in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared with February 2013 and a 32.0-percent increase in rooms under construction. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Pre-Planning stage.
“Three census regions – Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic and West South Central – accounted for roughly 60 percent of U.S. rooms under construction, based on the February pipeline data,” said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR. “The Middle Atlantic region ranked first with just under 21,000 rooms that have broken ground. The New York Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of the region’s hotel construction activity. Based on the current construction activity and projects in the Final Planning phase, we anticipate these three regions will continue to dominate U.S. active pipeline activity in 2014.”
Among the U.S. regions, the West North Central region reported the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 22.2 percent over last year with 20,429 rooms in the pipeline. Three other regions reported increases of more than 15 percent: the Mountain region (+19.4 percent with 39,824 rooms); the Pacific region (+19.1 percent with 44,826 rooms); and the West South Central region (+18.1 percent to 58,930 rooms). The New England region fell 1.2 percent (to 11,313 rooms) in rooms in the total active pipeline, reporting the largest decrease among the regions.
The Central/South America hotel development pipeline comprises 319 hotels totalling 51,482 rooms. This represents a 40.9-percent increase in rooms in the total active pipeline and a 44.2-percent increase in rooms under construction over February 2013. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Pre-Planning stage.
Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upscale segment accounted for the largest portion of rooms in the total active pipeline (23.1 percent) with 11,908 rooms. Two other segments each accounted for 20 percent or more of rooms in the total active pipeline: the Midscale segment (21.2 percent with 10,936 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (20.4 percent with 10,513 rooms). The Luxury segment made up the smallest portion of rooms in the total active pipeline (6.0 percent) with 3,104 rooms.
The Upscale segment accounted for the largest portion of rooms under construction (30.3 percent with 6,359 rooms), followed by the Upper Midscale segment (18.9 percent with 3,973 rooms) and the Midscale segment (17.4 percent with 3,642 rooms).
The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprises 152 hotels totaling 25,850 rooms. This represents a 26.4-percent increase in rooms in the active pipeline, compared with February 2013, and a 12.2-percent increase in rooms under construction. The total active pipeline includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Pre-Planning stage.
Among the countries in the region, Mexico reported the largest number of rooms under construction with 5,395 rooms. Four other countries reported more than 300 rooms under construction: Bahamas (2,706 rooms); Dominican Republic (1,747 rooms); Puerto Rico (449 rooms); and Jamaica (368 rooms).
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
