Dubai has reported the largest number of hotel rooms under construction in the Middle East and Africa, according to the STR Global Construction Pipeline report for December.
It revealed that the Emirate is in the process of building 10,970 rooms, while in Abu Dhabi, 3,036 rooms in key developments are in the pipeline.
In all, more than 14,000 rooms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are in active pipeline data, which includes projects in the construction, final planning and planning stages, but does not include projects in the pre-planning stage.
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Only Saudi Arabia stays ahead with 15,300 rooms in the pipeline including 6,927 in Makkah, 5,804 in Riyadh and 2,569 in Jeddah.
The latest STR Global Construction Pipeline report reveals the Middle East and Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 498 hotels totalling 120,119 rooms. The UAE and Saudi Arabia lead the region with 29,306 rooms under construction in various projects while Doha (4,944) is the only other notable city which reported more than 2,000 rooms in the active development pipeline until December.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Moussa El Hayek, chief operating officer of Al Bustan Centre & Residence, said: “Year 2013 set a new record for Al Bustan Centre and Residence as we achieved year round occupancy of 85% which is 12% more than 2012. The demand was very high even during the low period, this healthy environment is expected to continue into 2014 for which we have already budgeted almost 30% above 2013.”
He added: “We started to witness a new trend as a result of the Expo 2020 long time before it was announced as the indication were in Dubai’s favour.”
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