The European hotel development pipeline includes 585 hotels comprising 94,259 rooms, according to the August 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week.
'We continue to see growth in much of Europe,' said Duane Vinson, vice president at STR. 'By the end of this year, we expect another 123 properties to open. Upscale chains such as NH Hoteles and Courtyard by Marriott are dominant in the major markets.'
Three European countries account for more than 50 percent of the rooms in the In Construction phase as well as the total active pipeline: Germany ended the month with 6,264 rooms in the In Construction phase and 19,610 rooms in the total active pipeline; the United Kingdom reported 9,055 rooms in the In Construction phase; and 18,005 in the total active pipeline and Russia accounted for 6,806 rooms in the In Construction phase and 13,755 in the total active pipeline.
The Economy segment reported the largest portion of rooms in the total active pipeline, with 23.7 percent (22,311 rooms), followed by the Upscale segment with 23.1 percent (21,741 rooms). The Luxury segment (9.1 percent and 8,591 rooms) and the Midscale without Food and Beverage segment (6.9 percent and 6,509 rooms) accounted for the least amount of rooms in the total active pipeline.
Europe pipeline by Chain-Scale segment for August 2009 (number of rooms):

* Includes those projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning phases
About STR & STR Global
For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research has been the recognized leader for lodging industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly, and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tenn., and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit www.smithtravelresearch.com or www.strglobal.com.
Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.