KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

New and upcoming hotels to check out when you next visit Saudi Arabia

- GEMMA GREENWOOD

While the pandemic has put on the hotel development brakes in many major markets, Saudi Arabia is well and truly bucking the trend. The country is currently leading the world in projected hotel supply growth, according to figures revealed last month (April) by STR, the data benchmarking and analytics specialist for the global hospitality market.

Saudi Arabia has some 73,057 rooms across the three phases of the hotel pipeline with a huge 67.1 per cent increase in room supply anticipated over the next three years.

This increase, which assumes completion of all projects in construction, final planning and planning, is the highest among the world’s 50 most populated countries, STR found.

“Saudi Arabia’s growth aspirations, along with the strength of other Middle East hospitality markets such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is further validation that the region continues to emerge as a global tourist destination,” says Philip Wooller, STR’s area director for the Middle East/Africa. “Such growth is a testament to the strength and prospectus of the nation’s strong cultural and economic resources.”

While a significant portion of Saudi Arabia’s pipeline activity is concentrated in Holy City of Makkah where there are 28,052 rooms under development, representing a 81 per cent surge in hotel supply, several other submarkets are expected to increase supply by 50 per cent or more. They include the capital Riyadh, with 13,165 pipelined rooms (+75 per cent), Jeddah with 11,165 rooms (+97 per cent) and regional areas with 13,996 rooms (+80 per cent).