U.S. rooms under construction continued a steady march upward, increasing by 1.0 percent versus last month and up nearly one-third versus February 2014. There are 898 hotels totalling 142,604 rooms Under Contract in Europe. This represents a 5.8-percent year-over-year decrease in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014.
There are 3,604 projects totaling 435,518 rooms Under Contract in the United States, according to the February 2015 STR Pipeline Report. This represents a 17.6-percent increase in the number of rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014 and a 31.9-percent increase in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.
“U.S. rooms under construction continued a steady march upward, increasing by 1.0 percent versus last month and up nearly one-third versus February 2014,” said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of STR, Inc. “Upper Upscale construction activity jumped by nearly 72 percent versus the prior year, indicating a greater risk tolerance among developers and lenders.
“Upscale and Upper Midscale brands continued their dominance of the construction numbers, accounting for over two-thirds of the U.S. total,” Bowers continued. “STR expects measured supply increases in 2015 with full-year industry growth currently forecast at just over 1 percent.”
Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment reported the largest year-over-year increase in rooms Under Contract, rising 35.0 percent to 33,524 rooms. The Upscale segment followed with a 27.0-percent increase to 125,607 rooms. The Economy segment reported the largest decrease in the number of rooms Under Contract (-4.3 percent to 4,176 rooms). All segments but Economy (-25.4 percent to 809 rooms) reported an increase in rooms under construction, and four of those segments reported an increase of more than 25.0 percent. The Upper Upscale segment reported the largest increase, rising 71.7 percent to 14,228 rooms.
There are 898 hotels totalling 142,604 rooms Under Contract in Europe. This represents a 5.8-percent year-over-year decrease in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014 and a 5.3-percent decrease in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upscale segment accounted for the largest portion of rooms in Under Contract (25.1 percent) with 35,740 rooms. Two other segments each accounted for more than 15.0 percent of rooms in Under Contract: the Upper Midscale segment (21.1 percent with 30,155 rooms) and the Unaffiliated segment (16.6 percent with 23,694 rooms). The Upscale segment also made up the largest portion of rooms under construction (32.4 percent with 18,731 rooms) followed by the Upper Upscale segment (20.3 percent with 11,763 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (17.3 percent with 10,037 rooms).
There are 640 hotels totalling 149,799 rooms Under Contract in the Middle East/Africa region. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. Among the countries in the region, United Arab Emirates reported the most rooms under construction with 21,893 rooms in 76 hotels. Three other countries reported more than 4,000 rooms under construction: Saudi Arabia (16,945 rooms in 57 hotels); Qatar (6,492 rooms in 24 hotels); and Egypt (4,004 rooms in 14 hotels).
There are 163 hotels totaling 28,927 rooms Under Contract in the Caribbean/Mexico region. This represents a 6.9-percent increase in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014 and an 11.4-percent decrease in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. Among the region’s key markets, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (2,132 rooms), and Central Mexico (2,026 rooms) reported the largest number of rooms under construction.
There are 451 hotels totalling 71,876 rooms Under Contract in the Central/South America region. This represents a 17.8-percent year-over-year increase in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014 and a 37.2-percent increase in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. Among the region’s key markets, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, reported the largest number of rooms under construction with 3,990 rooms. Panama City, Panama (1,431 rooms), was the only other market to end the month with more than 1,000 rooms under construction.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
