Hotel supply in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region continues to grow as more than 560 properties have been registered, while 147,700 rooms are under construction in July, a report has found.
According to the July Pipeline Report from STR Global, 415 hotels (equivalent to 121,233 rooms) are in the Middle East, while the remainder are in the African region. Dubai was at the top of the list with the largest number of rooms under construction, with the total put at 50,094 rooms. Saudi Arabia has 45,687 rooms under construction, the report added.
The Middle East room construction total represents a 27.5% increase as compared to July 2017, the report said. It also highlighted projects in the final and planning stages, with a total of 29,145 rooms in 121 hotels registered in the final planning stages, while 56,114 rooms in 2017 properties were recorded as being in the planning stage. This represented a 58.4% and a 6.5% year-on-year increase respectively.
However, Africa registered a decline in hotel supply growth for the month of July, with 145 hotels currently under construction, which represents 26,467 rooms, down 7.1% compared to July 2017. A total of 48 properties (representing 8,490 rooms) were registered in the final planning stage, down 2.2% compared to the same month last year.
African hotels in the planning stage hit 125, with room numbers totalling 22,331, up by 13.1% compared to July 2017.