HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee – The U.S. hotel industry during 2012 opened 407 new properties with 43,865 rooms, according to data from STR/McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Pipeline Report.

“Net U.S. room supply growth in 2012 should be 0.5 percent when the final numbers are in, the second consecutive year of very low room capacity gains for the industry,” said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR. “We anticipate higher supply growth this year and are expecting a full year net room increase of about 1 percent in 2013. Once again, Upscale and Upper Midscale segment rooms should lead all segments in new room openings, while Upper Upscale openings are expected to increase significantly.”

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Midscale segment opened the most rooms in 2012 with 15,700 rooms in 166 projects. The segment reported a 0.6-percent decrease in the number of rooms that opened in 2012 compared with 2011. The Upper Midscale segment was followed by the Upscale segment, which opened 11,819 rooms in 85 properties during 2012, and the Independent segment, which opened 7,216 rooms in 52 properties. The Luxury segment opened the smallest number of new rooms in 2012 (233 rooms in one property).

In 2013, the U.S. hotel industry is expecting 817 properties with 87,301 rooms to open. Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Midscale segment is expected to open the largest number of rooms in 2013 with 33,432 in 362 properties. The Upscale segment (29,562 rooms in 229 properties) and the Unaffiliated segment (10,126 rooms in 86 properties) also are expected to open a significant number of new rooms in 2013.

Properties and Rooms opened in 2012 by Chain Scale segment

Chain Scale   Properties       Rooms
Segment        opened in   opened in
                    2012        2012
------------------------------------
Luxury                 1         233
Upper Upscale          9       2,417
Upscale               85      11,819
Upper Midscale       166      15,700
Midscale              58       3,922
Economy               36       2,558
Independent           52       7,216
Total U.S.           407       43,865

Source: STR

The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,634 projects totaling 304,077 rooms, according to the December 2012 STR/McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Pipeline Report. This represents a 1.2-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared with December 2011.

About STR/McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Pipeline Report

The Pipeline Report is co-produced by McGraw Hill Construction Dodge, and the dedicated pipeline team at STR. Available as an annual subscription or a local Market Supply Report, the Pipeline Report is a comprehensive look at new hotel development and existing supply in the U.S. and Canada.

About STR

STR provides clients—including hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industry—access to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering North America, Mexico and Caribbean. STR provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information. STR founded the STR family of companies and is proudly associated with STR Global, RRC Associates, STR Analytics, and HotelNewsNow.com. STR also founded the Hotel Data Conference.

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