August 20, 2019 – PORTSMOUTH, NH – According to the recent Latin America construction pipeline trend report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the total construction pipeline is in its third year of decline by rooms and has 710 projects/123,392 rooms. 710 projects is the lowest number of projects in the pipeline since the fourth quarter of 2013.
Projects presently under construction stand at 321 projects/56,228 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 208 projects/35,733 rooms, which is an all-time high for rooms, and those in the early planning stage are at 181 projects/31,431 rooms.
In the second quarter of 2019, Latin America had 56 new hotels with 10,938 rooms open. The LE forecast for the remainder of the year shows another 89 new hotels with 13,294 rooms scheduled to open. In 2020, LE’s forecast for new openings is expected to increase to 161 new hotels with 26,331 rooms and in 2021 rising to 164 new hotels with 24,470 rooms forecast to open.
Mexico leads Latin America’s construction pipeline with all-time high room counts at 203 projects/36,188 rooms. Next is Brazil, which stands at 156 projects/25,991 rooms. These two countries account for 51% of the projects in the total pipeline. Following is Colombia with 46 projects/7,267 rooms, then Peru with 43 projects/6,055 rooms and, at an all-time high by projects, the Dominican Republic with 35 projects/11,053 rooms.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines include Lima, Peru with 31 projects/4,782 rooms; Mexico City, Mexico, at an all-time high, with 28 projects/4,849 rooms; Cancun, Mexico with 19 projects/8,947 rooms; Sao Paulo, Brazil with 17 projects/2,704 rooms; and Cartagena, Colombia with 16 projects/2,954 rooms. These five cities make up 20% of the rooms in the pipeline.
Top hotel franchise companies in Latin America’s construction pipeline are AccorHotels with 104 projects/13,880 rooms, followed closely by Marriott International with 103 projects/16,435 rooms. Next is Hilton Worldwide at a record high 82 projects with 11,574 rooms, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 54 projects/6,432 rooms. These four companies are responsible for 48% of the projects in the total construction pipeline.
The top brands in the pipeline are AccorHotel’s Ibis brands with 67 projects/8,420 rooms, Hampton by Hilton with 21 projects/2,592 rooms, Hilton Garden Inn with 20 projects/2,847 rooms, and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 18 projects/2,147 rooms. Following these brands are Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 15 projects/2,255 rooms, and Courtyard by Marriott with 11 projects/1,660 rooms.
