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 U.K., recording an all-time high, leads the construction pipeline with 350 projects/52,398 rooms, followed by 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, Germany, at 57 projects/11,254 rooms; Paris at 40 projects/6,350 rooms; Lisbon, Portugal, with 38 projects and a record high room count total of 4,173; and Hamburg, Germany, 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, 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 is next with an all-time high of 207 projects/32,696 rooms; InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) follows with 151 projects/24,276 rooms.
The leading brands for these four companies are Accor’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 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.
