Above: construction at the Baha Mar resort project in the Bahamas (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico lead the Caribbean in the number of hotel rooms under construction, according to a new report.

STR’s Caribbean/Mexico hotel development report found that the region had a total of 163 hotels and 27,690 rooms in the development pipeline through June.

The Bahamas had 2,706 rooms under construction, followed by the Dominican Republic with 817 rooms, Puerto Rico with 471 rooms and St Kitts and Nevis with 245 rooms.

Mexico had 8,069 rooms under construction, according to the report.

Overall, the number of rooms under contract, which includes rooms at all stages of development (except unconfirmed), rose by 19.2 percent in June compared to the same period in 2013.

The number of rooms under construction in the Caribbean/Mexico region rose by 22.5 percent.