PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—According to the latest Europe Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), analysts report that at the close of Q2 2020, Europe’s hotel construction pipeline increased 9 percent by projects and 13 percent by rooms to end the quarter with 1,851 projects and 295,038 rooms. Second quarter project and room counts are up slightly over last quarter’s totals.
Projects under construction stand at an all-time high of 923 projects/149,637 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 477 projects/75,818 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage have 451 projects/69,583 rooms—up 16 percent and 26 percent respectively, YOY. During the first quarter of 2020, Europe opened just 35 new hotels with 5,998 rooms. This is the lowest number of project openings LE has recorded in the region since 2012 and is a result of halted construction projects in the region as a result of the pandemic.
The United Kingdom leads the construction pipeline in Q2 2020, recording an all-time high of 350 projects/52,398 rooms, followed by Germany with 323 projects/58,533 rooms. France is next with 172 projects/21,405 rooms, then Portugal, also at an all-time high, with 123 projects/14,329 rooms, and Poland with 91 projects/14,257 rooms.
The cities in Europe with the largest pipelines in Q2 2020 are London with 94 projects/16,542 rooms, Dusseldorf at 57 projects/11,254 rooms, and Paris at 40 projects/6,350 rooms. Next is Libson with 38 projects and a record-high room count total of 4,173. This is followed by Hamburg, also at an all-time high, with 35 projects/7,496 rooms.
Four global franchise companies account for 44 percent of all projects in Europe’s pipeline: Accor, which leads franchise companies in Europe with the largest pipeline by projects, at 236 projects/32,092 rooms; Marriott International with 217 projects/36,108 rooms; Hilton with an all-time high of 207 projects/32,696 rooms; and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 151 projects/24,276 rooms.
The leading brands for these four companies are Accor’s Ibis brands with 106 projects/13,510 rooms and then Mercure and Novotel Hotels with 26 projects/3,075 rooms and 25 projects/3,890 rooms, respectively. Marriott International’s top brands are Moxy with 72 projects/12,876 rooms, Courtyard by Marriott with 27 projects/4,739 rooms, and Autograph Collection with 22 projects/2,873 rooms. Hilton is led by Hampton at all-time record high totals of 79 projects/12,575 rooms, Hilton Garden Inn with 45 projects/7,545 rooms, and DoubleTree with an all-time high 30 projects having 3,802 rooms. IHG’s top brands include Holiday Inn Express with 65 projects/9,840 rooms, Holiday Inn with 28 projects/6,798 rooms, and Hotel Indigo with 17 projects/1,793 rooms.
Much like other regions around the world, Europe’s hotel construction pipeline is experiencing slight delays to project timelines of approximately two to four months.
