Best Western International has plans to expand in Mexico and Central and South America with 29 hotels in the pipeline for 2014 and 2015.
The brand currently has 16 hotels operating in Brazil and is working with development partner, Incortel, to add 30 new properties in the next five years. All of these projects will be new construction and 50 percent will be under the Best Western brand. The first of the new Incortel properties, the Best Western Plus Pampulha Design Hotel in Belo Horizonte, is set to open in March of 2014. Construction has also just begun on a fashion-themed property that will feature design from South American fashion designer Gloria Coelho.
“Brazil is still about 12,000 rooms short in meeting the growing demand created by major upcoming sporting events. Couple that need with an improving economy in Colombia and you have a recipe for rapid hotel growth across the region,” says Suzi Yoder, Best Western’s vice president of international operations.
Best Western currently has two hotels in operation in Colombia, and a third, the Best Western Plus Mocawa Hotel, will open in late December. The brand anticipates adding between two and four new construction projects annually through 2019. Hotel demand in the country has been spurred by increased political stability and the growth of the coffee, tourism, and oil industries.
Other hotspots for the brand’s Latin American development efforts are Chile and Peru. Best Western currently operates five hotels in Chile and is focused on development in the northern portion of the country. In Peru, hotel growth has been fueled by an increase in tourism dollars and a reduction in sales tax. The brand plans to have four hotels in its Peruvian portfolio by the end of 2014.
