Among the U.S. regions, the Pacific region reported the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 25.2 percent year over year to 42,371 rooms.
The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,807 projects totaling 339,602 rooms, according to the November 2013 STR Pipeline Report. This represents a 13.5-percent increase in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared with November 2012 and a 35.8-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.
Among the U.S. regions, the Pacific region reported the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 25.2 percent year over year to 42,371 rooms. Four other regions reported double-digit increases of more than 15 percent in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline: West North Central (+17.9 percent to 18,766 rooms); Mountain (+17.4 percent to 37,066 rooms); New England (+17.2 percent to 11,154 rooms); and East North Central (+15.2 percent to 28,378 rooms). East South Central (-3.3 percent to 18,612 rooms) was the only region to report a decrease of rooms in the total active pipeline.
“U.S. hotel rooms in construction continued their steady upward climb in November, increasing by 5.6 percent versus October 2013 and nearly 36 percent versus November 2012,” said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR.
He said the Middle Atlantic led all U.S. regions with 20,035 rooms under construction, or nearly 22 percent of the U.S. total. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island metropolitan statistical area alone accounted for 70 percent of Middle Atlantic construction activity.
“The South Atlantic region, driven by the Washington, D.C., MSA and several Florida markets, registered the second highest under construction totals, with 18,243 rooms. These top two regions, combined with the West South Central and Pacific, totaled more than 70 percent of all U.S. hotel room construction,” he added.
The Pacific region reported 123.6-percent growth in rooms under construction over last year (11,128 rooms), followed by New England (+59.4 percent with 1,973 rooms) and the West South Central region (+58.8 percent with 15,227 rooms). The East South Central region (-12.5 percent with 4,883 rooms) reported a decrease in rooms under construction.
The Central/South America hotel development pipeline comprises 264 hotels totalling 42,231 rooms. 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.
There are 12 hotels with 1,591 rooms under construction and scheduled to open during 2013 in the region. The Upper Midscale segment is projected to open the most rooms for the remainder of 2013 (510 rooms in three hotels), followed by the Midscale segment (358 rooms in two hotels) and the Upscale segment (290 rooms in three hotels).
During 2014, 82 hotels with 13,120 rooms are projected to open. The most rooms are expected to open in the Upscale segment (3,838 rooms in 23 hotels) and the Upper Midscale segment (2,560 rooms in 20 hotels).
The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprises 143 hotels totaling 24,083 rooms. 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 region’s countries, Haiti reported the largest expected supply growth (+60.3 percent) if all 644 rooms in the total active pipeline open. Three other countries also reported an increase in expected supply growth of more than 15 percent: Bahamas (+19.3 percent with 2,692 rooms); Turks and Caicos Islands (+18.3 percent with 545 rooms); and Saint Kitts/Nevis (+15.5 percent with 245 rooms).
The Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 813 hotels totalling 136,032 rooms. 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 Luxury segment experienced the largest year-over-year decline in number of rooms, falling 18.9 percent to 9,149 rooms. The Midscale segment followed with a 12.9-percent decrease to 7,232 rooms.
Only the Upscale segment reported a year-over-year increase, rising 3.5 percent to 32,013 rooms. The Independent segment remained flat with 28,635 rooms.
The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 490 hotels totalling 118,820 rooms. 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 countries in the region, the United Arab Emirates reported the largest number of rooms under construction with 18,057 rooms. Six other countries reported more than 2,000 rooms under construction: Saudi Arabia (16,666 rooms); Qatar (4,944 rooms); Egypt (3,144 rooms); Jordan (2,931 rooms); Morocco (2,287 rooms); and Algeria (2,071 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.
