The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 3,174 projects totaling 383,348 rooms, according to the April 2014 STR Pipeline Report. The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 581 hotels totalling 137,799 rooms, while the Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 916 hotels totalling 147,592 rooms.
The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 3,174 projects totaling 383,348 rooms, according to the April 2014 STR Pipeline Report. This represents a 16.0-percent increase in the number of rooms under contract compared with April 2013 and a 42.6-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. hotel construction activity continued its steady upward climb, reaching 103,415 rooms in April, an increase of over 42 percent versus April 2013,” said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of STR. “The Upscale and Upper Midscale segments continued their dominance of the development pipeline, accounting for 68 percent of under construction rooms and 60 percent of rooms in the final planning stage. Rooms under construction in both the Upscale and Upper Midscale segments increased by more than 50 percent in April 2014 versus prior year totals. Upper Upscale chain construction activity hit 8,631 rooms in April, a distant third among the STR chain scale segments, but up over 24 percent versus same time last year.”
Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment reported the largest increase in rooms under contract, rising 31.2 percent with 25,260 rooms. Three other segments reported increases in rooms under contract of more than 15 percent: the Midscale segment (+25.9 percent 23,567 with rooms); the Unaffiliated segment (+17.8 percent with 107,553 rooms); and the Upper Midscale segment (+15.3 percent with 111,898 rooms).
Four segments reported rooms under construction increases of more than 40 percent: the Upscale segment (+53.2 percent with 38,872 rooms); the Upper Midscale segment (+50.7 percent with 31,303 rooms); the Midscale segment (+46.2 percent with 5,327 rooms); and the Unaffiliated segment (+41.1 percent with 13,994 rooms). The Economy segment reported the largest decrease in rooms under construction, falling 22.8 percent with 899 rooms.
The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprises 160 hotels totaling 26,795 rooms. This represents a 21.7-percent increase in rooms under contract, compared with April 2013, and a 14.8-percent increase in rooms under construction. The total rooms under contract include rooms in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but do not include rooms in the Unconfirmed stage.
In the remainder of 2014, 43 hotels are planned to open with 7,441 rooms. The Unaffiliated segment plans to open the most rooms (6 hotels with 2,214 rooms), followed by the Luxury segment (8 hotels with 1,871 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (15 hotels with 1,725 rooms).
In 2015, 53 hotels are planned to open in the region with 10,218 rooms. The most rooms planned to open are in the Luxury segment (8 hotels with 2,804 rooms), followed by the Upscale segment (16 hotels with 2,103 rooms) and the Upper Upscale segment (5 hotels with 1,931 rooms).
The Central/South America hotel development pipeline comprises 388 hotels totalling 63,636 rooms. The total 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, Brazil reported the most rooms under contract with 42,949 rooms. Six other countries reported more than 1,000 rooms under contract: Colombia (4,226 rooms); Panama (3,619 rooms); Argentina (2,959 rooms); Chile (2,437 rooms); Costa Rica (1,473 rooms); and Peru (1,039 rooms).
The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 581 hotels totalling 137,799 rooms. 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 16,762 rooms. Other countries to report a significant number of rooms under construction include: Saudi Arabia (16,336 rooms); Qatar (5,757 rooms); Egypt (2,966 rooms); Morocco (2,466 rooms); and Jordan (2,438 rooms).
The Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 916 hotels totalling 147,592 rooms. 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 most rooms under contract with 25.0 percent and 36,881 rooms. Four other segments each accounted for more than 10 percent of rooms under contract: the Upper Midscale segment (19.3 percent with 28,483 rooms); the Unaffiliated segment (17.8 percent with 26,315 rooms); the Upper Upscale segment (14.7 percent with 21,662 rooms); and the Economy segment (10.5 percent with 15,536 rooms).
The Upscale segment made up the largest portion of rooms under construction (29.5 percent) with 17,855 rooms, followed by the Upper Upscale segment (21.7 percent with 13,148 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (16.3 percent with 9,897 rooms).
Please note that STR Global recently revised the pipeline definitions. What was formerly known as the Total Active Pipeline is now referred to as Under Contract. The Pre-Planning phase also has been renamed to the Unconfirmed phase.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
