May 2015 sees 40.4% boost in hotel construction

There are 40.4% more rooms under construction in the region in May 2015, compared to May 2014, according to the latest pipeline data from STR Global.

The region reported 91,510 rooms in 351 hotels under construction for the month.

While last month, STR Global reported there were 654 hotels totalling 150,762 rooms under contract in the region, this month there is a total of 653 hotels, totalling 159, 945 rooms.

This represents a 16.1% increase in rooms under contract compared with May 2014.

Among the countries in the region, Saudi Arabia reported the most rooms under construction with 28,050 rooms in 64 hotels.

United Arab Emirates followed with 22,724 rooms in 90 hotels.

Qatar (6383 rooms in 26 hotels) was the only other country in the region to report more than 5000 rooms In Construction.

The under contract data includes projects in the in construction, final planning and planning stages but does not include projects in the unconfirmed stage.

STR Global provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information.

STR Global has reported strong supply and demand growth for the UAE in May 2015 with an increase in supply by 5.6% and an 8% boost in demand.