GCC developing over 170,000 hotel rooms: report

More than 170,000 hotel rooms are currently under active development in the GCC region, according to new research commissioned by the Arab Travel Market (ATM) and conducted by hotel market intelligence firm STR.

This equates to 40% of the existing hotel room inventory in the GCC, a figure that is almost four times that of the rest of the world, which is currently lagging behind current supply by an average of 11% in active development.

Danielle Curtis, Director of Exhibitions, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Between Expo 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision2030 strategy, the hotel pipeline in the GCC remains strong, while the global hotel industry is growing. Slowdown due to weaker economic growth forecasts.

“While the growth in hospitality does underscore the region’s growing popularity on the global stage, it is also indicative of the regional government’s strategy to shift GDP growth from hydrocarbons to tourism, which will help further driving demand.

The STR report estimates that Saudi Arabia has 135,560 existing rooms, of which 82,639 are under construction, with a total expected to exceed 218,000 rooms by 2030. Similar to the UAE, STR currently tracks more than 202,000 existing rooms, of which 48,910 are active, for a total of nearly 251,000 rooms by 2030.

“Interestingly, Ras Al Khaimah is second only to Dubai with 5.076 rooms, almost as much as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah combined,” Curtis said.

The UAE’s historical occupancy performance provides a blueprint for what to expect in the region as new rooms enter the market. Between 2010 and 2019, the room supply increased by more than 70,000 rooms, a staggering 68% increase in supply and an average annual growth rate of approximately 6%.

“With this level of investment and development, we expect a significant increase in the number of GCC participants in ATM 2023, including inbound tour operators and tour operators from across the globe, as the region continues to attract increasing numbers of tourists and is environmentally friendly for them and sustainable development will be critical,” Curtis added.

ATM, the leading Middle East travel event for international inbound and outbound travel professionals, took place at the Dubai World Trade Center from 1-4 May with the official theme ‘Towards Net Zero’.

ATM’s organizer RX (Reed Exhibitions) will be celebrating its 30th annual event by launching a dedicated Sustainability Pledge, not only to make the ATM 2023 event more sustainable, but to announce 30 long-term goals as ATM is committed to net zero emissions with the RX global commitment.

Aiming to attract more than 26,000 visitors and 34,000 participants, ATM 2023 will provide global travel trade professionals with an outlook for the travel industry in the coming years by sharing new and insightful commentary from experts around the world, creating Significant business opportunities abound throughout the four-day event.

Strategic partners for ATM 2023 include Dubai Tourism as Destination Partner, Emirates as Official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as Official Hotel Partner and Al Rais Travel as Official DMC Partner.

ATM 2022 attracted more than 24,000 visitors and hosted more than 31,000 participants across ten halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre, including 1,600 exhibitors and attendees from 151 countries. – trade arab news agency