STR Reports U.S. Hotel Pipeline for August

STR reports U.S. hotel Pipeline for August 2008

17 September 2008

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. —The U.S. hotel development pipeline includes 5,936 hotels with 659,790 rooms according to the August STR/TWR/Dodge Construction Pipeline Report released last week.  This represents a 0.2-percent decrease in rooms over July 2008 and a 16.9-percent increase over August 2007.  Of the total pipeline, 199,504 rooms are not currently affiliated with a brand or chain.

Commenting on the regional U.S. pipeline, Duane Vinson, vice president of Smith Travel Research explained, "Development follows those regions with high demand.  The West South Central Region, with a 55.3 percent increase in the active pipeline, has seen the number of rooms rented increase by 3.7 percent for the first seven months of the year."

At the close of August, the number of rooms in the pipeline for each STR Region is as follows:

U.S. Pipeline by Region                                                                                                                                   

Number of Rooms & Percent Change (August 2008 vs. August 2007)                                                                                                                                

Regions**                                            Existing Supply                  In Construction                   Total Active Pipeline*     

New England                               191,110  2.4%                                         4,981    -18.6%                   21,627   19.2%

Middle Atlantic                                    405,949 2.3%                                       22,600   13.3%                   79,216   27.8%

South Atlantic                              1,073,217        2.9%                                       47,969      4.2%           167,943          11.5%

East North Central                              546,632 2.5%                                       17,082   -11.4%                   58,797   28.6%

East South Central                              296,098 3.2%                                       14,911     13.3%                  45,677   30.1%

West North Central                             323,319 2.5%                                         7,460    -22.0%                   24,733      8.0%

West South Central                             535,973 3.8%                                       33,232     36.3%         100,061          55.3%

Mountain                                                              548,239 3.1%                                       29,723   -12.5%                   85,259   -5.4%

Pacific                                                    701,878 1.7%                                       17,989   -18.7%                   76,477      1.7%

Total                                            4,622,415        2.7%                      195,947    0.7%                    659,790 16.9%

"Financing and high development costs are having a strong impact on projects planned for New England and the Pacific regions,” added Vinson.  “With the collapse or near collapse of many of the nation's largest investment firms, one can only wonder what impact this will have on large number of hotels projects that have been sitting quietly in the final planning stage awaiting an economic recovery."

* Includes those projects In Construction, Final Planning and Planning phases.                                                                  

** Geographic Regions

Pacific:  Alaska - California - Hawaii - Oregon - Washington

Mountain: Arizona - Colorado - Idaho - Montana - Nevada - New Mexico - Utah - Wyoming

West North Central:  Iowa - Kansas - Minnesota - Missouri - Nebraska - North Dakota - South Dakota

West South Central:  Arkansas - Louisiana - Oklahoma - Texas

East North Central:  Illinois - Indiana - Michigan - Ohio - Wisconsin

East South Central:  Alabama - Kentucky - Mississippi - Tennessee

Middle Atlantic:  New Jersey - New York - Pennsylvania

New England:  Connecticut - Maine - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - Rhode Island - Vermont

South Atlantic:  Delaware - Florida - Georgia - Maryland - North Carolina - South Carolina - Virginia - Washington DC - West Virginia

About STR/TWR/Dodge Construction Pipeline Report:

The Pipeline Report is co-produced by Torto Wheaton Research, Dodge Construction, 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 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.

Media contacts:

Jeff Higley

Director of Communications/Editorial Director, Digital Media

jeff@smithtravelresearch.com

+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 318

Charles Snyder

Manager, Communications/ Editorial Research

charles@smithtravelresearch.com

+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 305