Saudi has most Middle East hotel rooms being built

Saudi Arabia has the most hotel rooms under construction in the Middle East and Africa, with more than 35,000 being built, according to hospitality analysts STR.

The Gulf kingdom, which is investing in its tourism industry as part of plans to diversify its economy away from oil, currently has a total of 35,770 hotel rooms under construction in 81 hotels.

The figures for June also showed that the UAE has 26,989 rooms in 93 hotels in the construction phase, reports sister publication Arabian Business.

Two other countries in the region each reported more than 5,000 rooms under construction - Qatar (7,125 rooms in 30 hotels) and Egypt (6,095 rooms in 18 hotels).

STR’s June Pipeline Report showed 154,576 rooms in 550 hotels under contract in the Middle East and 55,736 rooms in 289 hotels under contract in Africa.

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

The under contract total in the Middle East for June represented a 23.5% increase in rooms compared to June 2015 with 81,951 rooms in 256 hotels under construction for the month.