Reports by Diana Moreno
After facing its sharpest decline on record in 2020, U.S. travel spending rebounded sharply as pent-up demand drove consumers back to planes, cars, and hotels. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, consumer spending on domestic accommodations surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and reached record highs in both 2023 and 2024.
Amid this surge in demand, the number of hotel establishments nationwide continued to grow.
While the industry experienced steep revenue losses during the pandemic, the total number of hotels remained relatively stable. Since then, hotel development has accelerated, with thousands of new properties opening across cities of all sizes. From major urban centers to smaller regional markets, many areas have seen a renewed wave of investment in the hospitality sector.
Luxury Link
This analysis, conducted by Luxury Link—a luxury hotel booking platform—identifies the states and cities that have added the most new hotels since 2019, highlighting where the sector has expanded most significantly. For travelers, these locations may offer some of the best opportunities to find newly built or recently opened places to stay.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of hotel establishments in the United States has steadily increased over the past two decades, with only a brief slowdown during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2001 to Q3 of 2024, the total number of hotel properties grew by more than 33%, rising from approximately 51,000 to over 68,000.
Employment, however, has not kept pace. After reaching a high of just over 2 million workers in mid-2019, hotel employment fell by more than 50% in the second quarter of 2020. Although these numbers have gradually recovered, they remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels. As of the third quarter of 2024, the hotel sector employed roughly 1.87 million workers—about 8% below its peak.
The lag in employment is not due to lack of demand but to persistent hiring challenges. Many hotel workers left the industry in 2020, and a significant number have not returned. Even as employers have raised wages and offered more flexible schedules, the industry continues to face labor shortages.
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