According to the Q1 2026 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report for Europe from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the region’s total pipeline stands at 1,731 projects/255,354 rooms at the close of the quarter, representing a 3% increase in both projects and rooms year-over-year (YOY).
At the close of the first quarter, hotel projects in Europe’s pipeline in the under construction stage stand at 792 projects and 119,106 rooms, up 3% by both projects and rooms YOY. Another 335 projects with 50,120 rooms are scheduled to start construction within the next 12 months, while projects and rooms in the early planning stage reached a record-high 604 projects/86,128 rooms, up 14% by projects and 16% by rooms YOY.
Hotel projects in the upscale chain scale closed the quarter with 389 projects/60,855 rooms, while the upper midscale chain scale closed Q1 with 311 projects/44,157 rooms. The upper upscale chain scale hit a record-high room total with 297 projects/48,479 rooms, followed by the midscale chain scale which stands at 195 projects/27,356 rooms, and the luxury chain scale also reached a record-high of 179 projects/21,729 rooms.
Europe opened 259 new hotels/31,038 rooms in 2025. During the first quarter of 2026, 38 new hotels/4,875 rooms opened throughout Europe, with an additional 281 new hotels/39,281 rooms forecast to open in Q2-Q4. LE analysts forecast a total of 319 new hotels/44,156 rooms to open by year-end 2026. Looking ahead, the LE forecast anticipates 311 new hotels/43,580 rooms to open in 2027.
Hotel Construction Projects in the U.K., Turkey, Germany, France, and Portugal Account for 46% of Europe’s Pipeline in Q1
Countries in Europe with the greatest number of projects in the pipeline at Q1 are led by the United Kingdom with 268 projects/39,024 rooms. Following are Turkey with a record-high 157 projects/21,274 rooms, Germany with 144 projects/24,923 rooms, France with 125 projects/12,576 rooms, and Portugal with 111 projects/13,707 rooms. These five countries account for 46% of the projects and 44% of the rooms in the region’s total pipeline at Q1.
European cities with the largest pipelines by project count at the close of the first quarter are London with 72 projects/12,813 rooms, Istanbul with 47 projects/7,072 rooms, Lisbon with a record-high 39 projects/4,378 rooms, Tashkent with 32 projects/5,097 rooms, and Hamburg with 25 projects/4,880 rooms. Edinburgh reached record-high project and room totals at Q1 2026 with 20 projects/3,702 rooms.
Tags: Lodging Econometrics (LE)
