152,580 rooms in 541 hotels under contract in Middle East in April

Dubai: There were 152,580 rooms in 541 hotels under contract in the Middle East and 55,078 rooms in 289 hotels under contract in Africa last April, according to a report from research firm STR Global.

In the Middle East, rooms under contract grew 41.3 per cent last April compared with April 2015, while rooms under construction rose 40.9 per cent year-over-year. There were 80,933 rooms in 251 hotels under construction for the month.

Meanwhile in the Northern Africa and Southern Africa subcontinents, rooms under contract increased 26.7 per cent compared with April 2015 and rooms under construction grew 39.6 per cent year-over-year. Africa reported 29,856 rooms in 155 hotels under construction for the month.

Among the key markets in the Middle East and Africa, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, reported the largest number of rooms in construction, with 20,790 rooms in 11 hotels. Three other markets reported more than 5,000 rooms in construction, including Dubai (20,291 rooms in 65 hotels); Riyadh (6,870 rooms in 31 hotels); and Doha (6,100 rooms in 27 hotels), according to the report.