As a recruitment agency focused on hospitality and foodservice, it’s crucial for us to stay on top of the latest trends and news in the industry. In the recently released United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the leading franchise companies and their brands in the construction pipeline at the close of the first quarter were revealed. With Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) taking the lead, let’s take a closer look at who’s winning the race in the U.S. hotel construction pipeline.
Marriott Tops the Charts
At Q1 2023, Marriott International had the greatest number of projects in the U.S. hotel construction pipeline, with 1,499 projects/181,377 rooms. Hilton Worldwide came in a close second with a record-high count of 1,436 projects/161,359 rooms, followed by IHG with 809 projects/80,679 rooms. Together, these three franchise companies comprise 68% of the projects in the total U.S. pipeline.
Marriott also had the most projects and room counts in each stage of the pipeline at Q1, with 279 projects/38,156 rooms currently under construction, 763 projects/90,038 rooms scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months, and 457 projects/53,183 rooms in early planning.
Leading Brands in the Pipeline
The leading brands by project count for the three companies with the largest pipelines in the U.S. at Q1 were Home2 Suites by Hilton, with all-time highs by projects and rooms of 546 projects/56,001 rooms, Marriott’s TownePlace Suites, also reaching all-time highs by projects and rooms at Q1, with 333 projects/31,068 rooms, and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express brand with 301 projects/28,371 rooms. Together, these three brands represent 21% of the projects in the total U.S. hotel construction pipeline at the close of Q1 2023.
Record-High Conversion Pipeline Totals
LE recorded record-high conversion pipeline totals of 1,079 projects/110,084 rooms for the U.S. in the first quarter of 2023. Of these conversion totals, Hilton had the most conversion projects and room totals ever recorded by LE, with 105 projects/14,456 rooms. Similarly, Marriott had a record 100 conversion projects, accounting for 13,465 rooms, and IHG had 52 conversion projects/6,2543 rooms. These three franchise companies account for 31% of all the rooms in the conversion pipeline across the country.
New Project Announcements and Openings
In Q1 2023, Hilton had the greatest number of new project announcements with 110 projects/11,790 rooms, followed by Marriott with 61 projects/6,730 rooms, and IHG with 33 projects/3,103 rooms. These companies represent 60% of all new projects announced in the U.S. in Q1 2023.
When it comes to new hotel openings, Marriott led the way with 33 new hotels and 3,711 rooms opened in Q1 2023, followed by Hilton with 24 new hotels and 2,781 rooms, and IHG with 6 new hotels and 629 rooms. Looking ahead, the LE forecast for new hotel openings in 2023 anticipates that Marriott will open a total of 152 new hotel projects/19,064 rooms by year-end, Hilton is forecasted to open 141 new hotel projects/16,980 rooms in 2023, and IHG is expected to open
