STR Reports Global Hotel Construction Pipeline for April 2011

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Asia/Pacific Markets

According to the April 2011 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report, the Asia/Pacific hotel development pipeline comprises 1,167 hotels totaling 291,946 rooms.

"Two mega cities in India, the capitals of the Philippines and Thailand, and Bali, the holiday island, are currently scheduled to see the largest expected hotel room growth compared to their existing supply of key Asian markets", said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. "Manila, Mumbai and New Delhi have less existing room supply (about and below 20,000 rooms) than other Asian markets, which provides opportunities for growth and diversification of the hotel offering".

Among the key markets in the region, New Delhi, India, ended the month with the largest expected room growth (+48.5 percent) if all 9,931 rooms in the total active pipeline open. Other markets to report significant expected growth include: Manila, Philippines (+28.2 percent with 5,019 rooms in the total active pipeline); Mumbai, India (+20.6 percent with 3,801 rooms); Bali, Indonesia (+13.7 percent with 4,319 rooms); and Bangkok, Thailand (+12.9 percent with 7,413 rooms).

Caribbean/Mexico

The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprises 134 hotels totaling 20,296 rooms.

"The Caribbean/Mexico region has 37 projects under construction that are expected to open by year-end 2011," said Lana Yoshii, VP of content management at STR. "These projects are expected to open 5,667 new rooms, increasing room supply by a modest 1%. Approximately one-third of these new rooms are in the upscale chain-scale segment."

Year-to-date in 2011, six projects have opened in the region with 404 rooms. In the remainder of 2011, 37 projects with 5,667 rooms are expected to open. If all rooms open, there will be a 1.1-percent increase in room supply in 2011. In 2012, the region is expecting 58 projects with 8,583 rooms to open and, in 2013, 16 projects are planned to open with 2,625 rooms.

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upscale segment has the most rooms expected to open in 2011 with eight projects and 2,028 rooms, followed by the Unaffiliated segment (9 projects with 1,349 rooms) and the Midscale segment (9 projects with 956 rooms).

Central/South America

The Central/South America hotel development pipeline comprises 156 hotels totaling 24,656 rooms.

Among the key markets in the region, Panama City, Panama, reported the largest number of rooms in the In Construction phase with 2,624 rooms. Other markets to report a significant number of rooms in the In Construction phase include: Bogota, Colombia (813 rooms); Sao Paulo, Brazil (546 rooms); Lima, Peru (542 rooms); and Santiago, Chile (144 rooms).

Europe

The Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 753 hotels totaling 125,417 rooms.

"Europe's pipeline continues to grow with the most rooms to come online in 2012", said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. "The United Kingdom (13,271 rooms) should see one-third of the expected European openings in 2012 with an emphasis to open in the first six months of the year (7,799 rooms)".

Year-to-date 2011, 46 projects have opened with 6,856 rooms. Overall in 2011, there are 204 more projects comprising 32,984 rooms expected to open, which would amount to a 0.8% increase in room supply for the remainder of 2011. During 2012, 257 projects are expected to open with 45,532 rooms, and in 2013 a total of 114 projects are planned to open with 21,390 rooms.

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upscale segment is expected to open the largest number of rooms during the remainder of 2011 with 60 projects comprising 11,358 rooms, followed by the Unaffiliated segment (38 projects with 5,282 rooms), the Upper Midscale segment (29 projects with 4,116 rooms), and the Economy segment (26 projects with 3,122 rooms).

Middle East/Africa

The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 443 hotels totaling 122,775 rooms.

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment made up the largest portion of rooms in the total active pipeline with 27.0 percent and 33,169 rooms. Three other segments accounted for more than 15 percent of rooms each in the total active pipeline: the Unaffiliated segment (22.9 percent with 28,112 rooms); the Luxury segment (22.6 percent with 27,686 rooms); and the Upscale segment (16.9 percent with 20,759 rooms). The Economy segment made up the smallest portion of rooms in the total active pipeline with 2.0 percent and 2,446 rooms.

Middle East/Africa pipeline by Chain Scale segment for April 2011 (number of rooms):

Source: STR Global

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