Middle East pipeline hits nearly 160,000 rooms

Penelope Walsh, August 23rd, 2016

The hotel pipeline in the Middle East has hit 158,950 rooms, across 541 hotels, according to a report by TopHotelProjects, conducted for The Hotel Show Dubai 2016.

According to the report, the majority of hotels in the pipeline are expected to open before 2020.

The UAE accounted for 180 hotel projects in the pipeline, while Saudi Arabia accounted for 134 projects.

TopHotelProjects forecasts that 2017 will be the busiest year (ahead of 2020) for hotel openings in the Middle East, with 189 hotels (58,527 rooms) currently expected to open within 2017.

Projects due to open in 2017 include, the Abraj Kudai, in Makkah, KSA (due to be the largest hotel in the world, with 10,000 rooms), and the world’s first Paramount Hotels & Resorts property, which will open in Dubai.