Dubai
This year is set to be a bumper one for Saudi Arabia’s hotels, with almost 60 per cent of the country’s current construction pipeline forecast to open in 2018, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
That amounts to 84 new hotels opening this year in total, bringing with them 27,281 new rooms.
According to the report, Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Al Khobar remain the busiest areas for hotel construction across the country.
Each of these locations rank highly in the Middle East’s top ten most active cities for hospitality development, sitting third, fourth, sixth and tenth respectively.
The Hilton is identified in the report as the brand with the most hotel developments currently underway throughout the country.
In a separate statement, Kamel Ajami, Hilton’s vice president of operations for Saudi Arabia and the Levant, said: “Saudi Arabia is one of the most important markets in this region, with new legislation and government reforms making the kingdom more accessible than ever. It represents our largest development pipeline in the Middle East.”
Travel data site STR’s preliminary January 2018 figures for hotels in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, indicate a mostly negative performance due to supply growth, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) shrinking by -2.1 per cent to 370.33 Saudi riyals.
