Saudi Arabia has the most hotel rooms under construction in the Middle East and North Africa, according to STR’s January 2017 Pipeline Report.
The hospitality analysts said the Gulf kingdom has a total of 36,742 in 85 projects in the pipeline, ahead of the UAE which has 28,898 rooms in 99 projects.
The report also said Qatar 8,462 rooms in 34 projects out of a regional total of 159,581 rooms in 556 hotel projects under contract in the Middle East.
Under contract data includes projects in the in construction, final planning and planning stages but does not include projects in the unconfirmed stage.
STR said the under contract total in the Middle East represents a 5.1 percent increase in rooms compared to January 2016. Specifically in the in construction phase, the Middle East reported 85,827 rooms in 269 hotels, a 6.8 percent percent increase in year-over-year comparisons.