GCC to add 58,761 hotel rooms in 2019

STR data shows that the Gulf Cooperation Council is expecting an additional 58,761 hotel rooms to enter the market in 2019. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, says, “It is important to highlight that the GCC is one of the fastest growing regional hospitality markets on a global scale, with the UAE leading the way as it gears up for Expo 2020 which is now less than two years away. Dubai’s hotel supply alone is expected to reach 132,000 in 2019, with the emirate aiming to complete 160,000 hotel rooms by October 2020 – in time to welcome 25 million visitors for Expo 2020.” The leading contributors are the UAE with 31,517 rooms (53%) in the pipeline; Saudi Arabia with 24,170 (41%); and Oman with 2,984 (5%). Reed Travel Exhibitions, organiser of the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) showcase in Dubai, which will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 28 – May 1, 2019, has announced that it will host the first ATM Hotel Industry Summit as part of its line-up of special events. The inaugural summit, scheduled to take place on Tuesday April 30, on the Global Stage, will see various panels of experts discuss the latest hotel infrastructure developments, investment opportunities and digital innovations which are shaping the region’s ever-changing industry. The UAE hospitality market is expected to be worth $7.6 billion annually by 2022, growing at a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.5% between 2017 and 2022, driven by Dubai’s Expo 2020, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and various other government initiatives to boost travel and tourism across the region. Over the same period, hotel supply is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% to 183,718 keys, according to research published in a report by Alpen Capital.

The summit will get underway with a session on ‘Regional Development and Investment Hotspots’, highlighting buoyant destinations in the Middle East and explaining the factors behind their underlying growth. This market intelligence will be essential for hotel professionals, management companies, owners and investors – particularly with major infrastructure projects stacking up across the Gulf.