Caribbean Hotel Pipeline Slumps

The pipeline of new hotel openings in the Caribbean is expected to weaken in 2011 and 2012 in comparison to 2010, Lodging Econometrics says in a report. The firm notes that this year, only 12 new hotels with a total 1,383 rooms are expected to open in the region. In 2012, activity is expected to drop to an extra 7 hotels with a total of 809 rooms. The pipeline has been weakening every year since 2008, the US-based hospitality research firm says. In 2008, 22 hotels with 5,848 rooms opened, while in 2009, some 25 hotels opened, but they had 5,443 rooms. Last year, 16 hotels with 3,129 rooms opened. “The Caribbean continues to struggle to regain footing,” the report notes. “The Caribbean pipeline is in a bottoming formation and will decline further as new project announcements into the pipeline are at the lowest Lodging Econometrics has recorded in the past 3 years,” it adds. The study includes all of the Caribbean islands and does not include countries like Guyana or Belize, which are sometimes considered part of the region.