INTERNATIONAL
STORY — The U.S. and China account for almost two-thirds of the world’s hotel
pipeline through the first half of the year, according to the latest data from
Lodging Econometrics.
The global
construction pipeline is at a record high of 15,453 projects and 2,395,726
rooms, which is up 6% by projects and 4% by rooms year over year.
At the close
of the second quarter, 6,265 projects and 1,115,989 rooms are under
construction worldwide, up 2% by projects and 1% by rooms YOY. Projects and
rooms scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months grew 8% YOY to 3,972 projects and 545,764 rooms, while projects in the early planning stage
also grew, with a 10% increase in projects and a 6% increase in rooms, YOY,
standing at 5,216 projects and 733,973 rooms.
Upper-midscale,
midscale and upscale chain scales are dominating the pipeline in the first half
of the year, accounting for 65% of the projects. Upper-midscale projects
comprise 29% of the total projects in the global pipeline, with a record 4,540
projects and 585,688 rooms, while upscale projects and rooms also achieved
record highs through Q2, with 3,688 projects and 634,050 rooms. Midscale
projects increased 5% YOY to close the quarter at 1,868 projects and 186,592
rooms. Luxury projects and room counts also reached record-high counts through Q2,
with a 13% YOY increase in projects and a 14% YOY increase in rooms, standing
at 1,066 projects and 214,270 rooms.
The U.S. led
the country rankings with a record 6,095 projects and 713,151 rooms (39% of the
world’s pipeline), while China also reached a record-high project counts of
3,815 projects and 699,786 rooms (25% of the pipeline). India was a distant
third with a record-high 610 projects and 75,280 rooms, while Canada was fourth
with record-highs of 322 projects and 40,297 rooms, and Saudi Arabia came in
fifth with record-highs of 320 projects and 79,756 rooms.
Dallas led
the world’s market rankings with 189 projects and a record-high 22,392 rooms,
with Atlanta in second with 159 projects and 18,522 rooms. Two markets in
China, Chengdu (147 projects and 26,951 rooms) and Shanghai (126 projects and
24,340 rooms), came next, followed by California’s Inland Empire, which was
fifth in the world, with a record 124 projects and 12,569 rooms.
Overall, 948
new hotels and 135,579 rooms opened around the world in the first half of 2024
and LE expects an additional 1,586 new hotels and 237,107 rooms to open by the
end of the year for a total of 2,534 new hotels and 372,686 rooms.
Analysts at
LE expect more hotels to open in the coming years, with 2,756 new hotels and
429,120 rooms projected to open in 2025 and 2,812 new hotels and 430,355
rooms to open worldwide in 2026.