Abu Dhabi: The Middle East is expected to see 159,127 new rooms across 555 hotels that are currently under contract, while Africa will see 56,858 rooms across 303 hotels under contract.
According to figures from the September 2016 Pipeline Report issued by STR, a data provider, the number for under-contract rooms in the Middle East represents a 14.8 per cent increase compared with September 2015. In Africa, the figure represents an 8.3 per cent increase over September 2015.
Under contract data includes projects in the construction, final planning, and planning stages, but does not include projects in the unconfirmed stage.
As for rooms under construction, STR said the Middle East recorded an 8.5 per cent year-on-year increase, with 83,416 rooms in 257 hotels under construction for the month. In Africa, STR said there are 29,006 rooms in 154 hotels — a 7.8 per cent increase year-on-year.
Among the countries in the Middle East and Africa, Saudi Arabia reported the most rooms in construction with 36,545 rooms in 78 hotels. The UAE followed, with 26,552 rooms in 94 hotels. Two other countries each reported more than 5,000 rooms in construction: Qatar (7,889 rooms in 33 hotels) and Egypt (5,800 rooms in 17 hotels).
