In the recently released Q1’21 United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the franchise companies with the largest U.S. construction pipelines at the end of Q1’21 are Marriott International with 1,354 projects/178,290 rooms, followed by Hilton Worldwide with 1,248 projects/145,256 rooms, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 807 projects/81,702 rooms. These three companies combined account for 69% of the projects and 65% of the rooms in the total U.S. construction pipeline.
At the end of Q1’21, the franchise company with the most projects in the under construction stage of the pipeline is Marriott at 29%, accounting for 391 projects/57,687 rooms. The franchise company with the most pipeline projects in the scheduled to start within the next 12 months stage is IHG’s at 63%, with 512 projects/50,656 rooms. Hilton has the most projects in the early planning stage of the pipeline, at 52%, with 647 projects/70,610 rooms.
The brands with the largest U.S. pipelines currently are Hilton’s Home2 Suites with 375 projects/39,243 rooms and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 314 projects/30,085 rooms. Hampton Inn by Hilton follows with 278 projects/29,193 rooms. Fairfield Inn by Marriott is next with 263 projects/25,554 rooms, then Tru by Hilton with 251 projects/23,937 rooms, and Marriott’s TownPlace Suites with 205 projects/20,285 rooms.
Other notable brands in the pipeline include Marriott’s Residence Inn with 194 projects/24,141 rooms, followed by IHG’s Avid Hotel with 164 projects/14,541 rooms, and Marriott’s SpringHill Suites with 158 projects/17,855 rooms.
During the first quarter of 2021, 229 hotels with 27,528 rooms opened across the U.S. Of these openings, Marriott, Hilton, and IHG branded hotels accounted for 73% with 167 new hotel openings and 20,164 rooms. LE is expecting these top franchise companies to open another 447 hotels with 54,622 rooms by the end of this year.