According to the Q2 2023 Latin America Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the region’s total construction pipeline includes 552 projects/88,477 rooms.
At the close of the quarter, there are 227 projects/38,675 rooms presently under construction, projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 158 projects/25,091 rooms, and projects currently in early planning stand at 167 projects/24,711 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage experienced the most growth at Q2, increasing 17% by projects and 21% by rooms, year-over-year (YOY).
Twenty-seven projects accounting for 3,796 rooms started construction in Q2 of 2023. New projects announced into the pipeline during the first half of 2023 are up 25% by projects over the first half of 2022, with 50 projects/7,331 rooms.
Countries with the most projects in the construction pipeline include Mexico with 213 projects/33,853 rooms. Next is Brazil with 85 projects/14,772 rooms, the Dominican Republic with 33 projects/7,071 rooms, Peru with 27 projects/3,322 rooms, and Argentina with 18 projects/1,932 rooms. Together, these five countries account for 68% of the projects and 69% of the rooms in the total pipeline.
Cities in Latin America with the largest pipelines at the Q2 close are led by Mexico City, Mexico with 23 projects/2,691 rooms, Lima, Peru with 15 projects/2,056 rooms, Riviera Maya, Mexico with 14 projects/1,956 rooms, Sao Paulo, Brazil with 12 projects/3,012 rooms, and Georgetown, Guyana with 12 projects/1,558 rooms.
Top hotel franchise companies in Latin America’s construction pipeline are Marriott International with 116 projects/18,733 rooms, Hilton Worldwide with record-high project counts for the company in the region of 105 projects/14,207 rooms, IHG Hotels & Resorts with 76 projects/10,225 rooms, Accor with 74 projects/9,608 rooms, and Hyatt Hotels with 33 projects/8,909 rooms. These five companies make up 73% of projects and 70% of rooms in the total pipeline and are forecast to see the highest number of new hotel openings in 2024 and 2025.
The top brands in Latin America at Q2 2023 are Accor’s Ibis brands 48 projects/6,228 rooms, Hilton’s Garden Inn with record project counts of 27 projects/3,465 rooms and its Hampton by Hilton brands with 21 projects/2,522 rooms. These are followed by Marriott’s Courtyard brand with 13 projects/1,801 rooms and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 13 projects/1,566 rooms.
In the first half of 2023, 30 new hotels/5,353 rooms opened in Latin America with an additional 59 new hotels/10,344 rooms scheduled to open before year-end. 2024 is forecast to see 105 new hotels/15,970 rooms open throughout the region and LE analysts forecast 2025 will have 123 new hotels/16,957 rooms open.