Nearly 6,400 new hotels were in construction as of the last day of 2024, says a just-issued report by industry-watcher Lodging Econometrics, representing a “new project record.”
Those projects mean just under 747,000 rooms and show real growth in the hotel-construction business, with a 7% increase in projects over late 2023, and an even larger 8% increase in the total number of rooms.
And while the late 2024 figures were impressive, what’s currently being planned in early 2025 isn’t too shabby: exactly 2, 259 projects are now in the planning stage, representing some 259,000 new rooms.
Those projects, says the Lodging Econometrics report, are “scheduled to break ground anytime between now and the next 12 months.”
The boom in construction has impacted all levels of hotels, with upper midscale establishments seeing an all-time high of 2,354 projects nationally, making up nearly 228,000 rooms. Upscale hotels were in the next most active category with 1,471 projects and 182,474 rooms.
“The midscale segment achieved a new record with 947 projects and 80,436 rooms,” continues the report.
New hotel projects, says the publication Hotel Dive, will include projects “that have been anticipated for years, international brands’ U.S. debuts, buzzy urban life story hotels, outdoor-focused retreats, and much more.”
The most dramatic increase in the industry as of the end of last year, according to Lodging Econometrics, was seen in the project early planning stage, which reached “unprecedented counts with 2,970 projects and 345,640 rooms.”
Early planning stage project growth accounted for a significant 15% increase over the final quarter of 202 and a total room count increase of 19%.
January 23, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
