PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — According to Lodging Econometrics’ (LE) Q2 2020 Latin America Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report, the total hotel construction pipeline in Latin America stands at 681 projects/118,936 rooms—down 4 percent by projects and rooms year over year (YOY).
The number of hotels currently under construction stands at 345 projects/61,622 rooms—up 7 percent by projects and 10 percent by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 196 projects/36,562 rooms. Projects in the early planning stages have experienced the sharpest decline—down 23 percent by projects and 34 percent by rooms YOY, settling in at 140 projects/20,752 rooms at the close of Q2 2020.
In the first half of 2020, 35 new hotels/5,803 rooms opened throughout Latin America. New projects announced into the pipeline in the first half of the year stand at 87 projects/10,487 rooms. In the second quarter of 2020, there were 51 new project announcements with 6,891 rooms—up slightly after a record low count in Q1 2020.
Latin America’s construction pipeline is led by Mexico, which has a record-high pipeline of 230 projects/42,372 rooms. Brazil follows with 132 projects/20,268 rooms. Next is Peru with 42 projects/5,619 rooms, Dominican Republic with 30 projects/6,091 rooms, and Cuba with 28 projects/7,649 rooms. Together, these five countries account for 69 percent of the rooms in Latin America’s total hotel pipeline.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines include Lima, Peru with 31 projects/4,551 rooms; Mexico City, Mexico with 27 projects/4,217 rooms; Cancun, Mexico with 24 projects/11,541 rooms; Guadalajara, Mexico with 21 projects/2,767 rooms; and Sao Paulo, Brazil with 16 projects/2,667 rooms.
Hotel franchise companies with the largest construction pipelines in Latin America are Marriott International with 118 projects/20,343 rooms, Accor with 97 projects/12,742 rooms, Hilton with a record of 92 projects/12,960 rooms, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 60 projects/7,334 rooms. These four companies account for 54 percent of the projects in Latin America’s total hotel construction pipeline.
Leading brands in the pipeline are Accor’s Ibis with 66 projects/8,455 rooms, Hilton Garden Inn with an all-time high of 25 projects/3,441 rooms, and Hampton by Hilton with 24 projects/2,850 rooms. These are followed by Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 16 projects/2,359 rooms and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 16 projects/1,955 rooms.
