RIYADH: Saudi Arabia leads the hotel construction market in the Middle East with some 37,654 rooms being built at the end of the second quarter of 2022, according to data released by global hospitality insight provider STR.
The UAE follows Saudi Arabia with 31,671 rooms under construction as both the Gulf states have been at the forefront of developing new hotels to cater to the growing hospitality and tourism demand.
The overall Middle East region has 127,397 hotel rooms being built as of June — 6.2 percent down from the same period last year.
The total number of rooms being developed in the region, which includes those under construction and in planning, stands at 237,636, down 0.6 percent compared to the second quarter of the previous year.
Globally, the hotel pipeline activity witnessed a fall, with each of the four world regions tracked by STR showing a year-over-year decline at the end of the second quarter.
In Europe, 207,315 rooms are currently under construction, down 12.6 percent from the second quarter of 2021.
Whereas in the Americas, some 202,250 rooms are currently being built as of the second quarter of 2022, down 16.1 percent from the same period last year.
The Asia Pacific region, however, witnessed positive growth, with 486,412 rooms under construction as of June 2022, up 2.1 percent from the previous year.
