Canadian hotel numbers

from Hotels enews (5/27):

Canadian Construction Pipeline At A High
-- Hotels, 5/27/2008 9:55:00 AM

"Portsmouth, NH, USA – Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Global Authority for Hotel Real Estate, announced that Canada’s Construction Pipeline totaled 265 projects and 33,964 guestrooms at the end of Q1 2008, a high for the cycle. LE President Patrick Ford noted, “Hotel construction in Canada has been solid. The total number of guestrooms in the Pipeline grew for an eighth consecutive quarter, and is up 14.2% year-over-year.” All projects included in the LE Pipeline have dedicated land parcels, are being actively pursued by developers and have been verified by the brands.

Ford said, “The total Pipeline appears to have reached its peak, as project and room counts have held steady for the past three quarters. Those to Start Construction in the Next 12 Months, 93 projects/11,649 rooms, and those in Early Planning, 83 projects/9,975 rooms, are at highs for the cycle. Meanwhile, the totals for Under Construction, 89 projects/12,340 rooms, are down from the cyclical peak established in Q2 2007.”

Several Factors Have Developers Becoming Cautious
Certain dynamics have aligned to cause developer caution. The Bank of Canada instituted three consecutive decreases to its key interest rate since December 2007, down a quarterpoint in both December and January, then a further half-point in February, indicating concern about a slowing in the economy. Hotel operating statistics were strong in 2006 and 2007, however, a continued decline in visitors from the United States due to the low US Dollar, higher gasoline costs and reductions in discretionary spending, along with indications that domestic travel is apt to decline as well, mean that guestroom demand is likely to soften moving forward." ....

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