Above: Nassau (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The number of rooms in the Caribbean hotel development pipeline continues to climb.

There were 163 hotels comprising 28,630 rooms in the development pipeline at the end of May, according to the latest STR Construction Pipeline Report.

That represented a 22.1 percent increase in rooms under contract compared to May 2013, and a 21.5 percent increase in the number of rooms under construction.

Rooms under contract includes rooms in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but not the Unconfirmed stage.

The luxury segment included the largest portion of rooms under contract, at 23.4 percent and 6,703 rooms. As for other segments, the unaffiliated segment accounted for 19.5 percent of rooms under contract, while the upscale and upper midscale segments accounted for 19.4 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively.

There were no rooms under contract in the economy segment in May, according to STR.