Dive Brief:
- The global hotel development pipeline hit a record high in terms of project count in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a Lodging Econometrics report released Wednesday.
- The global pipeline reached 15,820 projects and 2,438,189 rooms, a 4% and 3% increase year over year, respectively.
- The U.S. continues to lead for project counts by country, with an all-time high of 6,378 projects as of Q4’s end, according to Lodging Econometrics. Dallas and Atlanta are the top two cities globally for project counts.
Dive Insight:
As of the end of 2024, there were 6,231 projects, or 1,098,620 rooms, under construction worldwide, up 1% year on year in terms of project counts, according to the report. Projects scheduled to begin construction within the next 12 months were also up 1% year on year at 3,872, or 539,054 rooms.
Projects in early planning stages worldwide also hit a historic high, with project count up 10% year on year to 5,717 and rooms up 9% year on year to 800,515 — a “significant” jump, per Lodging Econometrics.
Dallas and Atlanta, with 204 and 168 projects in their respective pipelines, lead globally for project counts, followed by the Chinese cities of Chengdu (141 projects) and Shanghai (113 projects). Nashville, Tennessee, had the fifth-highest project count globally with 130 projects in its pipeline, per Lodging Econometrics.
2024 saw 2,226 hotels open globally, a 7% increase year on year. Some 486 of those openings occurred during the fourth quarter, according to the report. Looking forward, Lodging Econometrics expects 2,815 new hotels to open globally in 2025 and 2,820 new hotels to open in 2026.
Among U.S. markets, New York City and Nashville are projected to open the most hotel rooms in 2025, according to data from CoStar released last week. San Diego, California; Dallas; and Phoenix will follow for the most room openings this year, per CoStar.
In the U.S., higher-tier segments led other chain scales for pipeline growth in the fourth quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics data released last month.
