US hotel giant Hilton has announced that it has more than 16,000 rooms under construction in the Gulf region which will open by 2020.
Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta underlined the importance of the region to his company’s ambitious expansion plans.
He said Hilton has a total of over 21,000 rooms in its pipeline across the Gulf, with the six markets of the GCC contributing more than a third of Hilton’s pipeline rooms across the Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Carlos Khneisser, vice president, development, Middle East, North Africa & Turkey, Hilton said: “Our active pipeline of 16,000 rooms under construction in the GCC is more than double the number of our nearest competitor.
“The deals we are signing are not just there on paper, they are quickly progressing through design and construction. The value we drive for our owners facilitates the speed of this growth as owners want to come back for more.”
Hilton said in a statement that it has the largest active pipeline in the GCC both in terms of the number of rooms and properties in construction.
It added that Saudi Arabia is the market undergoing most extensive growth with the 7,900 rooms Hilton is developing there set to near triple the company’s presence in the market.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman all count Hilton as the hotel company with largest number of rooms under construction.
