Region to add 400,000 rooms in six years

The GCC region is poised to almost double its current hotel stock which stands at 464,465 quality rooms, with Saudi Arabia's ambitious tourism drive accounting for a staggering 80 per cent of the growth in regional hotel keys, according to latest hospitality market reports.

THE GCC states are poised for a monumental hospitality expansion, with plans to add nearly 400,000 hotel rooms by 2030. Once heavily reliant on oil, the region is now diversifying its economy through tourism and this shift is evident in the unprecedented growth of hotel infrastructure, surpassing even the most ambitious projections.

Driving this growth are long-term development plans drawn up by the region, such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme, and these aspirations are being catalysed through strategic government initiatives and massive investments in tourism, leisure, and aviation infrastructure.

This vision has translated into giga- and mega projects such as Neom, The Red Sea, Diriyah and Amaala, each of which will add thousands of rooms to Saudi Arabia's hospitality portfolio.

Saudi Arabia's ambitious tourism drive accounts for a staggering 80 per cent of the growth in regional hospitality facilities, adding 320,000 hotel keys to its stock, according to leading real estate consultancy Knight Frank's inaugural annual GCC Hospitality Market Review for 2024.

Dubai, already a global tourism powerhouse, continues to impress and maintain its enduring appeal, having emerged as the world's third most visited city in 2023. Its 154,000 hotel rooms welcomed 17.2 million visitors, and this momentum has persisted into 2024. A total of 9.3 million tourists arrived in the city in the first half of this year, representing an increase of nine per cent on H1 2023.

Not to be outdone, Saudi Arabia has also seen impressive growth, attracting 27.4 million visitors in 2023, and its meteoric rise positioned it as the world's 13th most visited country last year, said the report.