MIDDLE EAST: 82,446 Hotel Rooms Under Construction

There were 82,446 rooms in 253 hotels under construction in the Middle East in November, according to a report from research firm STR Global.

Rooms under construction rose 57 per cent year-on-year in November.

In terms of rooms under contract, there were 144,321 rooms in 501 hotels in the Middle East and 53,093 rooms in 285 hotels in Africa in November. Rooms under contract in the Middle East last month was up 30 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Saudi Arabia saw the most rooms under construction with 34,415 rooms in 72 hotels. It was followed by the UAE with 27,458 rooms in 94 hotels, Qatar (6,976 rooms in 29 hotels), Egypt (3,934 rooms in 13 hotels), Morocco (3,143 rooms in 17 hotels) and Jordan (3,055 rooms in nine hotels).

In Dubai, hotel room supply grew 5.4 per cent last month, outpacing demand, which was up 2.4 per cent, according to data from STR Global. Growing supply has put pressure on room rates this year, which was down 7 per cent year-on-year in November to Dh889.13. Occupancy dropped 2.9 per cent to 83 per cent, resulting in revenue per available room (RevPAR — an industry measure of occupancy and rates) to fall 9.8 per cent to Dh737.7.

In Northern Africa and Southern Africa, rooms under contract increased by 30.2 per cent and rooms under construction grew 34 per cent year-on-year. Africa saw 27,095 rooms in 151 hotels under construction for the month.