European Hotel Pipeline Hits 1,661 Projects and a 26% Surge in Conversions

The recent Europe Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) details that, at the end of Q4 2024, the region’s total pipeline is 1,661 projects/244,464 rooms.

At the Q4 close, there are 736 projects/112,904 rooms currently under construction in Europe, 415 projects/59,719 rooms scheduled to start construction anytime within the next 12 months, and 510 projects/71,841 rooms in the early planning stage.

New project announcements reached a yearly high at Q4, with 146 projects/18,416 rooms entering the pipeline. Property conversions in Europe at the end of Q4 2024 increased a substantial 26% in projects and a 13% rise in rooms year-over-year (YOY), reaching 520 projects/61,550 rooms. Combined with hotel renovation activity in Europe at Q4, property updates total 667 projects/84,289 rooms.

Upscale, upper midscale, and upper upscale projects continue to dominate the hotel construction pipeline at Q4. Upscale projects lead with 352 projects/54,687 rooms, followed by upper midscale with 322 projects/47,634 rooms, and upper upscale with 276 projects/43,428 rooms. These three chain scales, combined, represent 57% of projects and 60% of total rooms in the pipeline. Notably, luxury development has reached its strongest level since Q4 2019, with 127 projects/16,786 rooms.

In 2024, 289 new hotels with 38,681 rooms opened throughout Europe. LE analysts forecast continued growth in new hotel openings in 2025, with 342 new hotels/48,564 rooms expected to open, and 399 new hotels/51,964 rooms slated for 2026.

The United Kingdom Leads Europe with 286 Projects

The United Kingdom leads the region with 286 projects/40,305 rooms. Germany follows with 161 projects/26,461 rooms, then Turkey with a record-high 130 projects/19,038 rooms. France and Portugal complete the top five countries with the largest project counts in Europe at Q4, with 119 projects/12,078 rooms and 113 projects/14,059 rooms, respectively. These five countries account for 49% of the projects in the region’s total pipeline.

European cities with the largest pipelines at Q4 are led by London with 77 projects/14,820 rooms, Istanbul with 49 projects/7,903 rooms, Lisbon with 35 projects/3,976 rooms, Dublin with 24 projects/4,285 rooms, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan with 24 projects/4,091 rooms.

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