Russia Leads Europe In Hotel Construction

In terms of hotel development in Europe, Russia is king, according to the June 2009 Smith Travel Research Global Construction Pipeline Report.

As of June, Moscow has the largest number of rooms in the continent's total active pipeline: 5,127 of the total 94,695, which includes projects from the planning stages to those under construction. Russia also is one of the countries seeing the most development, said STR vice president of content management Duane Vinson.

"I don't think the global recession has impacted Russia as much as its own internal issues have, so we've continued to see a lot of development in that country," Vinson said in a statement.

Other countries seeing a good deal of hotel development include Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, according to Vinson. London's 4,968 rooms are the second-highest number in the active pipeline, followed by Berlin's 4,720, the report indicated.

Hotel construction in Europe has its heaviest concentration in the upper upscale and upscale tiers, according to the report. Together, the two tiers account for 42.6 percent of the hotels under construction as of the end of June.