Based on industry-wide operating metrics, Lodging Econometrics (LE) has reported that 2016 saw the opening of 842 hotels and 98,990 guestrooms in the U.S. The numbers—the highest reported since 2009—reflect a sizeable increase from 2015’s 736 hotel openings and 82,094 guestrooms.
LE’s metrics also show supply growth reached 1.6 percent last year, just shy of 1.7 percent demand growth. The score indicates that demand has exceeded supply growth for the seventh year in a row.
LE forecasts that 2017 will see the openings of 1,111 hotels and 120,372 guestrooms, an approximately 2 percent increase in supply. Conditions permitting, 2017 is anticipated to be the first year since 2010 when aggregated supply growth exceeds demand.
