STR Reports Global Hotel Pipelines

According to the February 2015 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report, there are 2,398 hotels totalling 543,378 rooms Under Contract in the Asia Pacific region.

This represents a 6.9% year-on-year increase in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014, and a 0.5% increase in rooms under construction.

Among the region’s key markets, Shanghai, China, reported the largest number of rooms under construction with 7,230 rooms. Four other markets reported more than 5,000 rooms under construction: Jakarta, Indonesia (6,743 rooms); Chengdu, China (6,537 rooms); Bali, Indonesia (5,613 rooms); and Delhi-NCR, India (5,350 rooms).

Europe

There are 898 hotels totalling 142,604 rooms Under Contract in Europe, representing a 5.8% year-on-year decrease in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014, and a 5.3% decrease in rooms under construction.

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upscale segment accounted for the largest portion of rooms in Under Contract (25.1%) with 35,740 rooms. Two other segments each accounted for more than 15.0% of rooms in Under Contract: the Upper Midscale segment (21.1% with 30,155 rooms) and the Unaffiliated segment (16.6% with 23,694 rooms).

The Upscale segment also made up the largest portion of rooms under construction (32.4% with 18,731 rooms) followed by the Upper Upscale segment (20.3% with 11,763 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (17.3% with 10,037 rooms).

U.S.

There are 3,604 projects totaling 435,518 rooms Under Contract in the United States, representing a 17.6% increase in the number of rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014, and a 31.9% increase in rooms under construction.

“U.S. rooms under construction continued a steady march upward, increasing by 1.0% 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% 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. STR expects measured supply increases in 2015 with full-year industry growth currently forecast at just over 1%.”

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment reported the largest year-on-year increase in rooms Under Contract, rising 35.0% to 33,524 rooms. The Upscale segment followed with a 27.0% increase to 125,607 rooms. The Economy segment reported the largest decrease in the number of rooms Under Contract (-4.3% to 4,176 rooms).

All segments but Economy (-25.4% to 809 rooms) reported an increase in rooms under construction, and four of those segments reported an increase of more than 25.0%. The Upper Upscale segment reported the largest increase, rising 71.7% to 14,228 rooms.

MEA

There are 640 hotels totalling 149,799 rooms Under Contract in the Middle East/Africa region.

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).

Caribbean/Mexico

There are 163 hotels totaling 28,927 rooms Under Contract in the Caribbean/Mexico region, representing a 6.9% increase in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2014 and an 11.4% decrease in rooms under construction.

Among the region’s key markets, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (2,132 rooms), and Central Mexico (2,026 rooms) reported the largest number of 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.