Canada"s hotel development pipeline comprises 196 projects totaling 19,909 rooms, according to the March 2012 STR/McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Pipeline Report. This represents a 3.9-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared to March 2011.
"In a country with just over 14,000 luxury scale rooms, three new projects totaling 711 rooms, makes a pretty big splash," said Duane Vinson, VP of database content and integrity at STR. "With 461 of those rooms under construction, that amount of growth hasn"t happened in the segment since 2004 with the opening of the Four Seasons Whistler and W Hotel Montreal."
Vinson continued, "We"re also seeing a significant push in the Upper Midscale segment with rooms in the active pipeline amounting to a 10-percent increase in supply. As more of those projects move into later phases and potentially into construction, that will be an area to watch."
Among the Chain Scale segments, the Luxury segment experienced the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 255.5 percent to 711 rooms. The Economy segment (+58.0 percent to 452 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (+38.4 percent to 5,857 rooms) also reported increases in rooms in the total active pipeline. The Midscale segment ended the month with a 44.2-percent decrease in rooms in the total active pipeline with 363 rooms.
