Middle East and Africa, US, Central/South America and Caribbean/Mexico hotel pipeline for May 2017

LONDON - STR’s May 2017 Pipeline Report shows 159,711 rooms in 581 hotel projects Under Contract in the Middle East and 58,501 rooms in 318 projects Under Contract in Africa.

Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.

The Under Contract total in the Middle East represents a 3.8% increase in rooms Under Contract compared with May 2016. Specifically in the In Construction phase, the Middle East reported 93,984 rooms in 302 hotels. Based on number of rooms, that is a 15.5% increase in year-over-year comparisons.

The Under Contract total in Africa represents a 3.7% increase in rooms Under Contract compared with May 2016. Specifically in the In Construction phase, Africa reported 30,839 rooms in 171 hotels. Based on number of rooms, that is a 0.3% increase in year-over-year comparisons.

Five countries in the Middle East/Africa region reported more than 4,000 rooms In Construction: 

• Saudi Arabia (40,145 rooms in 95 projects)
• United Arab Emirates (32,604 rooms in 116 projects)
• Qatar (9,147 rooms in 37 projects)
• Egypt (4,775 rooms in 14 projects)
• Angola (4,451 rooms in 32 projects)

US hotel pipeline
STR’s May 2017 Pipeline Report shows 580,068 rooms in 4,806 hotel projects Under Contract in the United States. The total represents a 13.8% increase in the number of rooms Under Contract compared with May 2016. 

Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages, but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.

In the In Construction stage, the U.S. reported 191,832 rooms in 1,477 projects. Based on the number of rooms, that is a 16.4% increase in year-over-year comparisons.

“After two straight months with a decrease, we saw the total number of rooms under construction rise by more than 2,000 from April to May,” said Bobby Bowers, STR’s senior VP for operations. “At the same time, year-over-year growth is much lower than last year, so it remains unclear if this is in fact the beginning of a slowing development period. The numbers show that there is still an appetite for new construction projects, but it will be interesting to see if that appetite correlates with further slowing in industry performance growth.”

Among the Top 26 Markets, New York, New York, reported the most rooms Under Contract (27,806 rooms) and most rooms In Construction (15,473 rooms).

Three additional markets each reported more than 15,000 rooms Under Contract for the month: Dallas, Texas (18,386 rooms); Houston, Texas (16,613 rooms); and Los Angeles/Long Beach, California (15,663 rooms). 

After New York, four other markets reported more than 5,000 rooms In Construction: Dallas (7,503 rooms); Los Angeles/Long Beach (5,887 rooms); Nashville, Tennessee (5,335 rooms); and Seattle, Washington (5,325 rooms). 

Two markets each reported fewer than 1,000 rooms In Construction: Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia (283 rooms), and Oahu Island, Hawaii (180 rooms). Central/South America hotel pipeline
STR’s May 2017 Pipeline Report shows 60,167 rooms in 385 hotel projects Under Contract in the Central/South America region. The total represents a 10.3% decrease in rooms Under Contract compared with May 2016.

Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.

The Central/South America region reported 29,687 rooms in 184 projects In Construction for the month. Based on number of rooms, that is a 0.2% increase in year-over-year comparisons.

Four countries in the region reported more than 1,000 rooms In Construction:

• Brazil (16,207 rooms in 93 projects)
• Colombia (4,200 rooms in 26 projects)
• Chile (2,365 rooms in 15 projects)
• Argentina (1,206 rooms in 10 projects)

Caribbean/Mexico hotel pipeline
STR’s May 2017 Pipeline Report shows 39,434 rooms in 226 hotel projects Under Contract in the Caribbean/Mexico region. The total represents a 39.0% increase in rooms Under Contract compared with May 2016. 

Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.

The Caribbean/Mexico region reported 13,503 rooms in 82 projects In Construction for the month. Based on number of rooms, that is a 7.0% increase in year-over-year comparisons. 

Three countries in the region reported more than 1,000 rooms In Construction: 

• Mexico (8,649 rooms in 61 projects)
• Cuba (1,318 rooms in two projects)
• Dominican Republic (1,025 rooms in four projects)