The Q4 2024 Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) showed that the global hotel construction pipeline continued its upward trajectory, reaching a new all-time high project count with 15,820 projects/2,438,189 rooms, a 4 percent increase in projects and a 3 percent increase in rooms year-over-year (YOY).
There were 6,231 projects/1,098,620 rooms under construction worldwide at the end of Q4 2024, up 1 percent by projects YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stood at 3,872 projects/539,054 rooms, also up 1 percent by projects YOY. Projects in the early planning stage reached record highs, standing at 5,717 projects/800,515 rooms, showing growth with a 10 percent increase in projects and a 9 percent increase in rooms YOY.
The top countries by project count continue to be led by the United States, which reached a new all-time high project count of 6,378 projects/746,986 rooms, up 7 percent and 8 percent respectively YOY. China follows with 3,779 projects/681,915 rooms. The United States represented 40 percent of the projects in the total global pipeline, while China accounts for 24 percent, resulting in 64 percent of all global projects in these two countries. Growth was seen in India, which reached record highs with 693 projects/87,512 rooms, showing increases of 35 percent in projects and 43 percent in rooms YOY. Canada follows with record highs of 333 projects/43,413 rooms, and Saudi Arabia with 316 projects/83,275 rooms.
The U.S. markets with the greatest number of projects in the hotel construction pipeline also achieved new milestones. Dallas led with record highs of 204 projects/23,669 rooms. Atlanta followed with an all-time high of 168 projects/19,431 rooms. Next were the international cities of Chengdu which ranks third with 141 projects/25,180 rooms, followed by Shanghai with 133 projects/24,529 rooms, and the Nashville market reached new highs with 130 projects/17,029 rooms.
During 2024, 2,226 new hotels opened worldwide, accounting for 317,608 rooms, representing a 7 percent increase in new hotel openings YOY. In the fourth quarter, 486 hotels with 74,048 rooms opened. LE analysts forecast 2,815 new hotels/429,639 rooms to open in 2025, followed by 2,820 new hotels/419,151 rooms in 2026.
