The Q4 2024 Global Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) reveals that the global hotel construction pipeline continues its upward trajectory, reaching a new all-time high project count with 15,820 projects/2,438,189 rooms, a 4% increase in projects and a 3% increase in rooms year-over-year (YOY).
There are 6,231 projects/1,098,620 rooms currently under construction worldwide at Q4 2024, up 1% by projects YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 3,872 projects/539,054 rooms, also up 1% by projects YOY. Projects in the early planning stage have reached record highs, standing at 5,717 projects/800,515 rooms, showing significant growth with a 10% increase in projects and a 9% 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% and 8% respectively YOY. China follows with 3,779 projects/681,915 rooms. The United States represents 40% of the projects in the total global pipeline, while China accounts for 24%, resulting in 64% of all global projects in these two countries. Notable growth is seen in India, which reached record highs with 693 projects/87,512 rooms, showing remarkable increases of 35% in projects and 43% 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 have also achieved new milestones. Dallas leads with record highs of 204 projects/23,669 rooms. Atlanta follows with an all-time high of 168 projects/19,431 rooms. Next are 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% 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.