The brandification of America's hospitality industry

Having a big loyalty program matters tremendously, and distribution costs are another factor

Brands have overtaken independents in the U.S., and that trend looks set to repeat itself abroad. “We are becoming a country of brands,” said Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group. “It’s what the banks like, it’s what the owners like, and it’s what the customers want.

Key takeaways

• In recent years, only about one-third of the roughly 160,000 hotels in the U.S. have remained independent, making the country arguably the world’s most consolidated hotel market;
• As of late December 2022, unaffiliated hotels representing approximately 30,000 rooms were in construction, whereas branded and franchise hotels had a whopping 131,000 rooms under construction;
• The trend isn’t only a U.S. phenomenon. In Britain and Ireland, the independent hotel sector contracted around 12% between 2010 and 2019.

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