U.S. Hotel Development Drops Thirty One Percent

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(News Source: Smith Travel Research)

(HENDERSONVILLE, TN) -- The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline includes 4,218 projects with 450,899 rooms, according to the September 2009 STR/TWR/Dodge Construction Pipeline Report released this week. This represents a 31.1-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared to September 2008. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages, but does not include projects in the Pre Planning stage.

All seven Chain-Scale segments reported declines in the number of rooms in the In Construction phase for the month. The Midscale with Food and Beverage segment reported the smallest decrease, down 19.1 percent to 7,879 rooms. The Economy segment posted the largest drop in rooms in the In-Construction phase, falling 60.0 percent to 5,240 rooms, followed by the Unaffiliated segment (-45.2 percent to 19,942 rooms) and the Upscale segment (39.0 percent decrease to 31,116 rooms).

U.S. pipeline by Chain-Scale segment (number of rooms and percent change September 2009 vs. September 2008):

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