Thousands of hotel rooms under construction at five hotels

Mon, Apr 20th 2015, 11:49 PM

A new report from hotel industry analysts STR Global revealed that thousands of hotel rooms with a revenue potential of more than half a million dollars annually were under construction in The Bahamas up to March, even as the number of hotel rooms under construction decreased year over year.

The March 2015 STR Construction Pipeline Report was released yesterday, revealing 165 hotels totaling 29,233 rooms under contract in the Caribbean/Mexico region, meaning they are confirmed in the pipeline and either under construction or in planning stages.

The number of rooms under construction for the month was 10,148 rooms in 53 hotels. Among the countries in the region, Mexico reported the most rooms under construction with 6,291 rooms in 39 hotels. The Bahamas followed with 2,670 rooms in five hotels. If each room was valued at the average daily room rate in The Bahamas up to October 2014 ($197.04 per night), those rooms would be worth $526,096.80. Two of the three largest resorts in the Caribbean construction pipeline are in The Bahamas - the 981-room Baha Mar Resort and Casino, and the 844-room Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar.

Baha Mar is set to open in May, after two delays. The STR report shows that the number of rooms under contract is up 9.7 percent over March 2014, but the number of rooms under construction is actually down 9 percent. Meanwhile, Jamaica Tourism Minister Dr. Wykeham McNeill reported 1,600 new hotel rooms set to come on stream in Jamaica over the next 18 months.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

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