Above: construction at the Baha Mar in the Bahamas

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Caribbean-Mexico hotel development pipeline has risen to 167 hotels totaling 28,140 rooms, according to a July report from hotel analytics firm STR.

That represented a 21.8 percent increase in rooms under contract compared to July 2013, and a 23.2 percent increase in rooms under construction.

The Bahamas (led by the large-scale Baha Mar project), the Dominican Republican and Puerto Rico have been leading the room in hotel development of late, along with St Kitts and Nevis.

Rooms under contract include rooms “In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but do not include rooms in the Unconfirmed stage,” according to the company.

Among rooms under construction in the Caribbean and Mexico, the largest percentage are in the luxury segment, at around 29 percent and 3,715 rooms under construction.

There are also 3,242 rooms, or around 25.3 percent of all rooms, in the unaffiliated segment.

STR releases its pipeline report each month.