Hotel Pipeline in the Caribbean, the Americas

There are 3,881 projects totaling 469,139 rooms Under Contract in the United States. This represents a 13.6 percent increase in the number of rooms Under Contract compared with December 2014 and a 17.2 percent year-over-year 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 Chain Scale segments, the Economy segment reported the largest year-over-year increase in rooms Under Contract, rising 70.0 percent to 6,801 rooms.

“While the growth of Economy rooms in the pipeline was significant compared with last December,  Economy chains still represent the smallest number of rooms both Under Contract and In Construction,” said Bobby Bowers, STR’s senior VP of operations.

The Upper Midscale segment (+23.9 percent to 157,034 rooms) and the Upper Upscale segment (+23.4 percent to 38,885 rooms) followed Economy in next highest percentage change for rooms Under Contract.

The Unaffiliated segment (-11.0 percent to 89,757 rooms) reported the only decrease in the number of rooms Under Contract.

All segments with the exception of Upper Upscale (-13.5 percent to 11,524 rooms) reported an increase in rooms under construction. The Economy segment (+130.8 percent to 1,512 rooms) reflected the largest year-over-year increase in rooms In Construction.

“Numbers are up almost across the board, but 69 percent of the total construction in the U.S. resides in the Upscale and Upper Midscale segments,” Bowers said. “And while the total number of rooms in the Final Planning phase is up almost 47 percent, the Upscale and Upper Midscale segments each reported an increase around 70 percent in that phase.”

There are 171 hotels totaling 28,570 rooms Under Contract in the Caribbean/Mexico region. This represents a 4.4 percent increase in rooms Under Contract compared with December 2014 and a 4.3 percent year-over-year 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. The region reported 11,591 rooms in 66 hotels under construction for the month. Among the countries in the region, Mexico reported the most rooms under construction with 7,536 rooms in 50 hotels.

There are 468 hotels totaling 74,049 rooms Under Contract in the Central/South America region. This represents a 9.8 percent increase in rooms Under Contract compared with December 2014 and a 29.3 percent year-over-year 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.

The region reported 31,229 rooms in 187 hotels under construction for the month. Among the countries in the region, Brazil reported the most rooms under construction with 20,176 rooms in 109 hotels.

Four other countries each reported more than 1,000 rooms under construction: Colombia (2,699 rooms in 18 hotels); Argentina (1,415 rooms in 11 hotels); Chile (1,143 rooms in nine hotels); and Panama (1,113 rooms in seven hotels).