Latin America’s Hotel Construction Pipeline Expands: A Year-over-year Analysis
According to the Latin America Construction Pipeline Trend Report by Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Latin America hotel construction sector reported an 18% growth in projects and an 11% growth in rooms year-over-year (YOY) at the end of Q1 2025.
Analysis of the Growth
The total hotel construction pipeline in Latin America, as of Q1 2025, stands at 715 projects and 112,598 rooms. The under-construction projects account for 287 projects/49,570 rooms, reflecting a 15% YOY increase by projects and a 5% increase by rooms.
Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 190 projects/29,084 rooms, marking a 1% increase by projects and rooms YOY. Those in early planning stand at 238 projects/33,944 rooms, a significant 43% increase by projects and 37% increase by rooms YOY.
Chain Scales and Countries Leading the Growth
The upscale chain scale, luxury chain scale, and the midscale chain scale were the leading categories in the hotel construction pipeline, with 139 projects/20,122 rooms, 135 projects/26,440 rooms, and 128 projects/15,772 rooms, respectively.
The countries reporting the highest numbers of projects are Mexico (254 projects/39,163 rooms), Brazil (112 projects/15,134 rooms), and the Dominican Republic (78 projects/18,331 rooms). These three countries account for 62% of the projects and 65% of the total Latin America pipeline rooms.
Key Cities and Renovation Activity
The cities with the largest construction pipelines are Mexico City (26 projects/3,068 rooms), Riviera Maya, Mexico (16 projects/1,846 rooms), and Lima, Peru (14 projects/2,192 rooms).
Hotel renovation and brand conversion activity remains strong, accounting for 137 projects and 26,015 rooms. In the first quarter of 2025, 8 new hotels and 1,319 rooms opened in Latin America.
Future Forecast
The LE new hotel openings forecast for the remainder of the year expects 89 new hotels with 14,761 rooms to open by year-end, totaling 97 projects/16,080 rooms for 2025. LE analysts predict an increase in new hotel openings in Latin America in 2026, with 133 new hotels/20,345 rooms expected to open.
