PORTSMOUTH, NH—Lodging Econometrics’ (LE) Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report shows that in the first quarter of 2017, the total pipeline ended with 11,904 projects and nearly 2 million rooms, up 6 percent by projects year-over-year (YOY). The number of projects under construction globally was 5,496 with more than 1 million rooms,  up 4 percent by projects YOY. Projects that were scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months totaled 3,753 with 532,814 rooms—up a strong 17 percent YOY—while projects in the early planning stages are down 2 percent YOY at 2,655 projects and 432,398 rooms.
The leading franchise companies in the global construction pipeline by project count are: Marriott International with 2,159 projects/363,672 rooms; Hilton Worldwide with 1,993 projects/300,524 rooms; InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 1,336 projects/204,991 rooms; and Choice Hotels with 561 projects/47,155 rooms. The leading brands for each of these companies are: Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 332 projects/35,089 rooms; Hilton’s Hampton Inn with 547 projects/65,211 rooms; IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 595 projects/72,113 rooms; and Choice’s Comfort Suites with 127 projects/10,596 rooms.
The top countries by room-count are the United States with 602,034 rooms/5,032 projects and China with 534,285 rooms/2,441 projects. The U.S. accounts for 30 percent of the rooms in the global hotel pipeline while China accounts for 27 percent. The two combined makeup more than half of the global hotel pipeline (57 percent). The cities with the largest pipeline room counts are: Dubai with 35,882 rooms/125 projects; New York with 29,447 rooms/185 projects; Seoul with 27,084 rooms/148 projects; Shanghai with 25,406 rooms/133 projects; and Guangzhou with 22,727 rooms/projects.
