Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Accor dominating global hotel pipeline

The global pipeline for new hotels is being dominated by four groups, according to a new report by Lodging Econometrics (LE).

At the end of 2018 Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Accor accounted for over half (55 per cent) of all projects, according to the Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report, which compiles the construction pipeline counts for every country and market around the world.

Marriott International had the most pipeline projects with 2,544, followed by Hilton with 2,252, Intercontinental Hotels Group with 1,716, and Accor with 966. In terms of individual brands, IHG’s Holiday Inn Express had the most pipeline projects with 731.

Analysis shows that the total global construction pipeline hit 13,753 projects at the end of last year, up 7 per cent year-on-year.

Over 5,500 of these projects are in the US, with over 2,700 in China. The two countries between them accounted for over 60 per cent of all global projects, while the UK had a total of 266 pipeline projects (38,590 rooms).

The individual city with the most projects was New York with 171, followed by Dubai with 168, Dallas with 163, LA with 147 and Guangzhou with 132.

LE forecasts that a total of 2,844 hotels will open in 2019 (compared to 2,675 in 2018), with this figure growing to 3,088 in 2020.