January 30, 2024 – PORTSMOUTH, NH
According to the Q4 2023 Latin America Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), projects and room counts in the region’s total construction pipeline each increased by 11% each year-over-year (YOY) to stand at 594 projects and 97,679 rooms at the close of the quarter.
At Q4, projects currently in the under construction stage account for nearly half of the projects and rooms in Latin America’s total pipeline. Projects under construction stand at 238 projects/42,644 rooms, up 7% by projects and 6% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 172 projects/27,625 rooms, up 9% by projects and 16% by rooms YOY. Projects in early planning stand at 184 projects/27,410, up 18% by projects and 15% by rooms YOY at the Q4 close. Notably, new projects announced into the Latin America hotel construction pipeline during Q4 were up 43% by projects and 33% by rooms YOY, with 57 projects and 9,303 rooms.
Luxury, upper upscale, and upscale projects dominate the projects in the region’s total pipeline at Q4, accounting for 58% of the total projects and 64% of the total rooms. At the close of the quarter, luxury projects in the region’s hotel construction pipeline reached record highs, with 106 projects accounting for 22,400 rooms. Upper upscale projects in the pipeline also reached record-high counts, with 108 projects/21,414 rooms. Projects in the upscale chain stand at 129 projects/18,358 rooms, up 12% and 13% respectively YOY.
The top countries by project count in the total Latin America pipeline at Q4 are led by Mexico with 226 projects/35,670 rooms, up 11% by projects and 7% by rooms YOY, and account for 38% of the projects in the region’s total pipeline at Q4. Brazil follows with 86 projects/13,516 rooms, followed by the Dominican Republic with record project and room counts of 48 projects/12,911 rooms, nearly doubling in project counts compared to Q4 2022. Next is Peru, with 25 projects/3,336 rooms, and then Argentina, with 22 projects/2,448 rooms.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines include Mexico City, Mexico, with 22 projects/2,531 rooms; Lima, Peru, with 14 projects/2,169 rooms; Georgetown, Guyana, with 13 projects/1,678 rooms; Riviera Maya, Mexico, with 13 projects/1,536 rooms; and Sao Paulo, Brazil, with 12 projects/2,787 rooms.
Through the fourth quarter of 2023, 62 new hotels/10,690 rooms opened in Latin America. Looking ahead, LE analysts forecast the number of new hotel openings in Latin America to increase to 114 new hotels/19,464 rooms in 2024. Throughout 2025, LE is forecasting that the region will open 109 new hotels/18,502 rooms.
