The principal hotel chains that operate in Mexico are planning to open 352 new properties between this year and 2022, according to an analysis by the real estate firm CBRE.

City Express Hotels, which mainly targets business travelers, will lead the way by opening 80 new properties over the next three years.

“We see a challenging economic outlook but we’re maintaining the positive idea of continuing to position ourselves in the center of cities . . .” the company’s director of innovation, José Luis Carrete, told the newspaper El Financiero.

AMResorts plans to open 66 new hotels in the same period while Grupo Posadas will open 48 with a 30-billion-peso (US $1.5-billion) investment.

Marriot, the NH Group, Hoteles Misión and the Intercontinental Hotels Groups have, in that order, the next most ambitious plans. The four chains will collectively open around 150 new hotels over the next three years.

The CBRE study was based on information publicly disclosed by the hotel chains but some analysts believe that plans could change due to the cancellation of the new Mexico City International Airport and the elimination of the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM).

Nevertheless, the Mexican Hotel and Motel Association (AMHM) is forecasting that the number of luxury hotels in Mexico will increase by 5% in 2019, three points above the figure recorded in the past three years.

At least half of the new luxury hotels that open in Mexico this year will be time-share properties or vacation clubs, according to Juan Ignacio Rodríguez, the executive director in Latin America of timeshare vacation exchange network RCI.

Among the hotels that will open in 2019 are Paradisus Playa Mujeres and Now Natura Riviera Cancún in Quintana Roo, Nobu Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel, both in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, and Conrad Playa Mita in Nayarit.

Source: El Financiero (sp)