(News Source: STR Global)

(HENDERSONVILLE, TN) -- The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline includes 134 hotels with 17,663 rooms, according to the June 2009 STR Construction Pipeline Report released last week.

Among the countries in the region, Mexico reported the largest amount of rooms in the In Construction phase (5,287), as well as in the total active pipeline (10,931). Puerto Rico followed Mexico with 1,163 rooms in the In Construction phase and 1,627 rooms in the total active pipeline.

Duane Vinson

"Most of the activity right now is taking place in Mexico. It's primarily in those mid (chain-scale) segments--Upscale, Midscale with Food and Beverage and Midscale without Food and Beverage," said Duane Vinson, vice president of content management at STR. "We're still seeing a little bit of the Luxury development in the Caribbean, but not as much as three or four years ago. Most investors are looking to buy distressed assets than undertake ground-up development."

Among the Chain-Scale segments, the Midscale without Food and Beverage segment made up the largest percentage of the total active pipeline with 21.0 percent of the rooms with3,718 rooms. With 3,414 rooms, the Upper Upscale segment made up 19.3 percent of the total active pipeline. The Luxury segment also made up for more than 15 percent of the total active pipeline at 18.7 percent with 3,296 rooms. The Economy segment accounted for the smallest portion of the total active pipeline at 6.0 percent with 1,056 rooms.

Caribbean/Mexico pipeline by Chain-Scale segment for June 2009 (number of rooms):    

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