In the recently released Q2 2022 United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the franchise company leading the United States hotel construction pipeline is Marriott International with 1,355 projects/167,034 rooms, up 4% by projects year-over-year (YOY). Next is Hilton Worldwide with 1,312 projects/147,780 rooms, an 8% YOY increase, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 789 projects/79,701 rooms, up 2% by projects YOY. Current construction projects with these three franchise companies comprise 66% of the projects and 64% of the rooms in the total U.S. construction pipeline.
Marriott International has the most projects under construction and scheduled to start within the next 12 months, with 249 projects/33,398 rooms and 653 projects/80,395 rooms respectively. Hilton Worldwide has the most projects in the early planning stage of the pipeline, with 725 projects/78,879 rooms, these record high project and room totals for Hilton account for 32% of projects in the early planning stage.
The leading brands in the construction pipeline for the top three franchise companies at Q2 are Home2 Suites by Hilton with record high counts of 465 projects/47,825 rooms and Holiday Inn Express by IHG with 299 projects/28,598 rooms. Hilton’s Hampton by Hilton brands follow, with project and room highs of 281 projects/28,591 rooms. Marriott’s TownePlace Suites is next, with project and room record-highs of 270 projects/25,340 rooms, followed by its Fairfield Inn brand, with 235 projects/21,885 rooms.
During the first half of 2022, 247 hotels with 28,116 rooms opened across the U.S. Of these openings, Marriott, Hilton, and IHG branded hotels accounted for 70% with 172 new hotel openings and 20,365 rooms. Marriott opened 78 new hotels/9,475 rooms, Hilton opened 64 new hotels/7,901 rooms and IHG opened 30 new hotels/2,989 rooms. LE is expecting these top franchise companies to open another 248 hotels with 30,756 rooms by the end of this year.
LE analysts forecast for new hotel openings in 2022 anticipates that Marriott will open 169 new hotel projects/21,834 rooms, for a growth rate of 2.5%. Next is Hilton with 150 new hotel projects/17,698 rooms, for a growth rate of 2.3%, followed by IHG with 101 new hotel projects/11,589 rooms forecast to open for a growth rate of 2.7%. In 2023, Marriott is expected to open another 181 new hotel projects/21,850 rooms for a growth rate of 2.4%. LE predicts Hilton will open 154 new hotel projects/18,974 rooms, for a 2.5% growth rate by year-end 2023, while IHG is expected to see a 3.6% growth rate in 2023, with 153 new hotel projects, accounting for 15,650 rooms. In LE’s forecast for new hotel openings in 2024, Marriott is forecast to open 227 projects/26,807 rooms for a growth rate of 2.9%. Hilton is expected to open 189 new hotel projects/20,048 rooms, for a 2.5% growth rate by year-end 2024, and IHG is forecast to open 202 new hotel projects, accounting for 19,781 rooms for a 4.4% growth rate in 2024. (Note: all growth rates are by rooms)