Hotel Construction in Europe Shows Double-Digit Growth

Hotel construction in Europe has reached its highest level since 2007.

Newly released data from Lodging Econometrics (LE) shows that the construction pipeline on the continent stands at 1,388 projects, which will result in 219,251 rooms for the second quarter of 2018. That’s an 18 percent year-over-year increase.

Nearly 700 projects (112,580 rooms) are currently under construction. An additional 403 projects or 62,538 rooms will begin construction in the next 12 months. And 292 projects (44,133 rooms) are in the early planning stages, according to LE.

Projects currently under construction and those in early planning are also at their highest since 2007, the organization said.

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There was also significant growth in new hotel openings during the first half of 2018, with 198 hotels, totaling 26,164, coming online. That’s an increase of 38 percent over the first half of 2017.

What’s more, LE’s forecast for new hotel openings shows continued growth for at least the next several years with a total of 367 new hotels (49,295 rooms) opening by the end of 2018, followed by 383 hotels (53,030 rooms) expected in 2019. For 2020, the organization is projecting 392 new hotels creating 60,740 rooms.

The countries witnessing the lion’s share of this growth include Germany with 247 projects (47,155 rooms), the United Kingdom with 247 projects (36,487 rooms), France with 130 projects (15,198 rooms), Portugal with 83 projects (8,531 rooms), and Poland with 80 projects (12,221 rooms.)

All of these countries reached their highest levels since 2007 in either the first or second quarter of 2018.

Among the top hotel companies in Europe’s construction pipeline are AccorHotels with 220 projects, Marriott International with 178 projects, Hilton Worldwide with 166 projects and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 138 projects. These four hotel giants make up a staggering 51 percent of Europe’s hotel construction pipeline.