New hotel pipeline construction across the country has seen a healthy increase in the first three months of this year, according to a prominent industry survey.
Altogether, there were some 5,545 hotel construction projects between January and March of this year, according to Lodging Econometrics. That number represents a total of 658,207 rooms.
Both in the number of individual projects and the hotel rooms those projects represent, construction was up by 9%. The total 5,545 projects, according to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Lodging Econometrics, is only some 5.7% “behind the all-time high of 5,883 projects” recorded in the spring of 2008.
As of March 31, projects actually being built stood at 1,051—a figure representing 140,365 rooms. But it’s what’s being planned that shows the most promise, with 2,060 projects in the pipeline for the next 12 months. And those pipeline projects mean a big 241,568 rooms.
Notes a Lodging Econometric narrative accompanying the latest numbers: The latest early 2023 numbers mark the “fourth consecutive quarter of total pipeline growth for the U.S., which can be, in part, attributed to the robust recovery of travel demand.”
Increased consumer confidence and spending activity has “fueled strong occupancy and rate growth throughout the last twelve months as well.”
The outlook for the rest of the year looks particularly promising given that “developers are motivated to sign new projects anticipating more favorable financial conditions in the coming quarters.”
Despite the strong early 2023 numbers, the publication Hotel Management notes that “market volatility, persistent inflation, rising energy prices, elevated transportation costs, materials shortages and supply chain backlogs continue to pose a challenge and slow the timeline to a full recovery.”
By Garry Boulard
