By Andrea Hargraves 
According to a trend report prepared this spring, only the United Kingdom, Germany and France surpass Portugal in the number of hotel construction projects. In the list of cities, Lisbon appears in third place.
The world's leading hotel companies are pressing ahead with major construction projects across Europe despite the economic slowdown, according to Lodging Econometrics (LE)'s European Hotel Construction Projects Trends Report, which states that growth is particularly important in upscale hotels. A total of 326 new hotels are expected to open this year across the European continent (representing approximately 45,100 rooms).
Total hotel construction projects in Europe currently stand at 1,705 projects/253,777 rooms at the end of the first quarter.
About 45% of hotel projects are in the construction stage, representing 762 projects and 117,815 rooms. Construction on another 411 projects, containing 60,356 rooms, is scheduled to begin over the next 12 months, while 532 projects, containing 75,606 rooms, are currently in the early planning stage, just below the record high set in the first quarter of the year. Year 2023.
Luxury hotel projects recorded the highest growth in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous year. Premium luxury properties now have a record 271 projects / 45,122 rooms, while luxury chains currently have an additional 358 projects / 57,153 rooms in the pipeline.
The total number of medium and high-end hotel projects is 305, and it is expected to open 46,020 rooms in this sector. These three metrics represent 55% of projects in the total construction portfolio in the European region.
During the first quarter of 2024, 45 new hotels / 5,961 rooms were opened across Europe, and another 281 new hotels / 39,129 rooms are expected to open in the following quarters, according to Europe Press.
Lodging Econometrics (LE) experts expect a total of 326 new hotels / 45,090 rooms to open by the end of 2024. Looking ahead to next year, hotel openings in Europe are expected to rise to 367 / 52,605 rooms by 2025.
By country, the United Kingdom still ranks first Pipeline Europe in the first quarter of 2024 with a total of 321 projects / 45,257 rooms.
Followed by Germany with 180 projects / 28,816 rooms; France, with 130 projects / 14,268 rooms; Portugal, with 120 projects/15,020 rooms; And Turkey with 116 projects and a record number of rooms of 18,277 rooms.
These five countries represent 51% of the projects and 48% of the rooms in total Pipeline region during the first quarter of this year.
The European cities with the largest project portfolio at the moment are London, with 80 projects/14,987 rooms; Istanbul, with 51 projects / 8,814 rooms; Lisbon, with 37 projects/4,349 rooms; Dublin, with 27 projects/5,254 rooms; and Düsseldorf, with 26 projects/4,798 rooms.