The latest Latin America Construction Pipeline Trend Report by Lodging Econometrics (LE) reveals robust growth in the region’s hotel construction sector. At the close of Q1 2024, the total hotel construction pipeline in Latin America stands at 604 projects and 100,990 rooms, marking an 11% increase in projects and a 12% increase in rooms year-over-year (YOY).
At the end of the first quarter, there are 249 projects/47,393 rooms under construction in Latin America, reflecting a 10% YOY increase by projects and an 18% increase by rooms. Additionally, projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 189 projects/28,740 rooms, up 18% by projects YOY and 11% by rooms, while those in early planning stand at 166 projects/24,857 rooms, up 4% by projects YOY and 3% by rooms.
Noteworthy chain scale segments in Latin America at the Q1 close include the upscale segment with 129 projects/18,314 rooms and the luxury chain scale, which reached record project counts of 106 projects with 22,051 rooms at the close. The upper upscale chain scale closed the quarter with 103 projects/21,403 rooms, down slightly from the peak of this chain scale, which was reached in Q4 ‘23.
Countries in Latin America with the largest number of projects in the pipeline at Q1 are Mexico with 226 projects/35,691 rooms, Brazil with 91 projects/13,670 rooms, and the Dominican Republic with record-high counts of 51 projects/13,118 rooms. These three countries account for 61% of the projects in the total pipeline and 62% of the rooms.
Key cities in Latin America with the largest construction pipelines include Mexico City, with 21 projects/2,353 rooms, Georgetown, Guyana with 13 projects/1,689 rooms, and Lima, Peru with 12 projects/1,914 rooms. Riviera Maya, Mexico follows also with 12 projects accounting for 1,421 rooms, and Sao Paulo, Brazil with 11 projects/2,438 rooms.
Renovation and conversion activity remains strong in Latin America at the end of Q1 2024, accounting for 146 projects/29,191 rooms. YOY this represents an increase of 13% by projects and 33% by rooms. Upper midscale hotels lead the renovation and conversion activity in the region.
The first quarter of 2024 had 20 new hotels/3,330 rooms open throughout Latin America. Moreover, new project announcements (NPAs) showed significant YOY growth with 23 more NPA projects in the pipeline at Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023 NPA totals. The LE new hotel openings forecast for the remainder of the year expects an additional 81 new hotels with 15,051 rooms to open by year-end. Looking ahead, LE analysts expect new hotel openings in Latin America to increase slightly in 2025 with 108 new hotels/18,744 rooms forecast to open.