Analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE) has reported that in the third quarter of 2019, Europe’s hotel construction pipeline climbed to record high counts.

The recent report shows Europe’s healthy hotel construction pipeline with 1,710 projects and 264,080 rooms, an 18% increase in projects and a 16% increase in rooms year-over-year (YOY). The growth has been driven primarily by the substantial growth of the major global hotel companies who have acquired the brands of others or created new brands to bolster their existing portfolios throughout the last decade.

Through the third quarter of 2019, Europe opened 325 new hotels with 43,089 rooms and is forecast to open another 81 new hotels/9,241 rooms by year-end.

Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, leads the construction pipeline with 314 projects/57,485 rooms. The United Kingdom follows at 296 projects/42,307 rooms, then France and Portugal with 172 projects/21,743 rooms and 115 projects/11,821 rooms, respectively. Next is Poland with 87 projects/13,485 rooms.

Trade uncertainty

With the pipeline at record highs, the LE forecast for new hotel openings will continue to ascend in the coming years with 450 new hotels/63,383 rooms scheduled to open in 2020 and climbing even higher in 2021 to 499 new hotels with an impressive 75,517 rooms expected to open.

However, Europe’s economy is likely now cresting as the region makes its way towards a Brexit resolution and through the economic turbulence and uncertainty of the US/China trade war. According to World Bank data, Europe will be by far the largest victim of continued trade uncertainty, not China or the US.