According to the latest Europe Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), analysts report that at the close of the second quarter of 2020, Europe’s hotel construction pipeline increased 9% by projects and 13% by rooms to end the quarter with 1,851 projects and 295,038 rooms.

Second quarter project and room counts are up slightly over last quarter’s totals. 

Projects under construction stand at an all-time high of 923 projects/149,637 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 477 projects/75,818 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage have 451 projects/69,583 rooms; up 16% and 26% respectively, YOY. During the first quarter of 2020, Europe opened a mere 35 new hotels with 5,998 rooms. This is the lowest number of project openings LE has recorded in the region since 2012, and is a result of halted construction projects in the region as a result of the pandemic.

The United Kingdom, recording an all-time high, leads the construction pipeline with 350 projects/52,398 rooms, and then Germany with 323 projects/58,533 rooms. France follows with 172 projects/21,405 rooms. Next is Portugal, also at an all-time high, with 123 projects/14,329 rooms, and then Poland with 91 projects/14,257 rooms.

The cities in Europe with the largest pipelines are London with 94 projects/16,542 rooms, Dusseldorf at 57 projects/11,254 rooms, and Paris at 40 projects/6,350 rooms. Next is Libson with 38 projects and a record high room count total of 4,173. This is followed by Hamburg, also at an all-time high, with 35 projects/7,496 rooms.

Four global franchise companies account for 44% of all projects in Europe’s Pipeline. They are Accor Hotels, which leads franchise companies in Europe with the largest pipeline by projects, at 236 projects/32,092 rooms. Accor is followed by Marriott International, with 217 projects/36,108 rooms. Hilton Worldwide is next with, an all-time high of, 207 projects/32,696 rooms; then InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 151 projects/24,276 rooms.

The leading brands for these four companies are Accor Hotel’s Ibis brands with 106 projects/13,510 rooms and then Mercure and Novotel Hotels with 26 projects/3,075 rooms and 25 projects/3,890 rooms, respectively. Marriott International’s top brands are Moxy with 72 projects/12,876 rooms, Courtyard by Marriott with 27 projects/4,739 rooms, and Autograph Collection with 22 projects/2,873 rooms. Hilton Worldwide is led by Hampton by Hilton at all-time record high totals of 79 projects/12,575 rooms, Hilton Garden Inn with 45 projects/7,545 rooms, and DoubleTree by Hilton with an all-time high 30 projects having 3,802 rooms. IHG’s top brands include Holiday Inn Express with 65 projects/9,840 rooms, Holiday Inn with 28 projects/6,798 rooms, and Hotel Indigo with 17 projects/1,793 rooms.

Much like other regions around the world, Europe’s hotel construction pipeline is experiencing slight delays to project timelines of approximately two to four months.

At the close of the second quarter of 2020, the Middle East Hotel Construction Pipeline continues to show signs of decline

According to the latest published Construction Pipeline Trend Report for the Middle East, analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE) state at the end of the second quarter of 2020, the hotel construction pipeline in the Middle East decelerated once again to 591 projects/169,538 rooms.

The Middle East’s pipeline is down 7% by projects and 6% by rooms year-over-year (YOY). This is the fourth consecutive quarter the pipeline has declined since reaching its cyclical peak by projects in Q2 2019.

However, projects currently under construction stand at an all-time high of 363 projects/117,458 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are down an outstanding 31% by projects and 34% by rooms YOY to end the second quarter at 109 projects/25,658 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage are at 119 projects/26,422 rooms. Additionally, in the second quarter, the Middle East opened only 7 new hotels accounting for 1,469 rooms.

Countries with the most projects in the construction pipeline are Saudi Arabia with 210 projects/69,610 rooms and the United Arab Emirates with 186 projects/55,797 rooms. Following distantly is Egypt with a record 60 projects/14,641 rooms, then Qatar with 57 projects and an all-time high room count of 14,538, and Oman with 36 projects/6,967 rooms. Dubai continues to lead the construction pipeline in the United Arab Emirates with 144 projects/44,895 rooms.

Cities with the largest hotel construction pipelines are the Provincial region with 67 projects/14,104 rooms; Riyadh, at record high totals, with 62 projects/12,414 rooms; Doha, Qatar with 50 projects/12,234 rooms; Jeddah with 50 projects/10,705 rooms; and Makkah with 31 projects/32,387 rooms. Fourty-four percent of the projects in the construction pipeline In the Middle East are found within these five cities.

Leading franchise companies for the Middle East at the end of the second quarter include Hilton Worldwide, topping the company charts and recording a project high, with 96 projects/26,188 rooms, followed by Marriott International with 88 projects having 21,875 rooms. Next is Accor with 84 projects/25,277 rooms. These three companies alone account for 45% of the projects in the pipeine in the Middle East.

The leading brands in the pipeline for these companies are Hilton’s DoubleTree with 26 projects/6,355 rooms, and Hilton Hotel & Resort with 22 projects/7,070 rooms; Marriott’s Courtyard with 21 projects/4,382 rooms and Residence Inn with an all-time high by projects of 17 accounting for 2,057 rooms. Accor’s top brands are the Ibis brands with 13 projects/4,474 rooms, Adagio City Aparthotel with 11 projects/2,288 rooms, and Novotel with 11 projects/2,857 rooms.