The hotel construction pipeline in the Middle East decelerated once again to 591 projects/169,538 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics.
The Middle East’s pipeline was down 7% by projects and 6% by rooms year-on-year, the fourth consecutive quarter the pipeline has declined since reaching its cyclical peak by projects in the second quarter last year.
However, projects currently under construction stood at an all-time high of 363 projects/117,458 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months were down 31% by projects and 34% by rooms year-on-year to end the second quarter at 109 projects/25,658 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage were at 119 projects/26,422 rooms.
Additionally, in the second quarter, the Middle East opened only seven new hotels accounting for 1,469 rooms.
Saudi Arabia led construction with 210 projects/69,610 rooms and the United Arab Emirates with 186 projects/55,797 rooms.
Hilton topped the company charts with 96 projects/26,188 rooms, followed by Marriott International with 88 projects having 21,875 rooms. Next was Accor with 84 projects/25,277 rooms. These three companies alone accounted for 45% of the projects in the pipeline in the Middle East.