Middle East Heats Up in Luxury Hotel Pipeline Competition
25.08.2023 - 14:00
/ skift.com
/ Red Sea Global
/ Sherry Sun
Hotel development in the Middle East is heating up as investors regain confidence in the region, and it’s a competition between who is more luxurious.
In February, for example, multi-project developer Red Sea Global announced its plans for building Clinique La Prairie Health Resort, a health and wellness-focused establishment in partnership with Swiss longevity clinic Clinique La Prairie. Red Sea Global is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
The development is part of Red Sea Global’s megaproject AMAALA, which is an upcoming ultra-luxury tourism destination being developed along the Red Sea coast in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Upon its completion in 2027, AMAALA will span over 4,000 square kilometers and be home to 25 hotels and approximately 900 luxury residential villas, apartments and estate homes. The first phase of development is expected to wrap up in mid-2024 and welcome guests to over 1,300 hotel rooms across eight resorts. Clinique La Prairie Amaala will be one of the eight.
“At Amaala, we are creating the most important health and longevity-focused resort ever developed. We’re delighted to be building our very first full-scale destination in such an extraordinary setting and to help bring Red Sea Global’s vision of regenerative, ultra-luxury tourism to life,” said Simone Gibertoni, CEO of Clinique La Prairie.
But as cranes fill the skylines above the arid landscapes, the mad development rush doesn’t come without its risks. Hotels created from the rapid expansion may face occupation challenges if tourism interest does not match up. Doha was left with a glut of empty rooms at the end of 2022 after the World Cup ended and fans left the country, which questions whether the race to develop will see its return on investment as it supposes.
Still, the Middle East saw a record number of new hotels open in the fourth quarter last year, ending 2022 with 81 new openings to account for 17,736 rooms. The upward trend continues as new project announcements increased 56 percent year over year.
Large multinational chains like Hilton, Marriott International, Accor and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) are also competing in the race. Hilton leads the pack with a record of 99 projects in the region, followed by Marriott with 77 projects, Accor with 74 projects, and IHG with 63 projects.
Saudi Arabia tops all other countries in the Middle East with the most ambitious hotel construction pipeline. According to the Middle East Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, the three cities with the largest number of projects under construction are all in Saudi Arabia–Provincial leading with 96 projects, Riyadh with 73 projects and Jeddah with 46 projects. Doha, Qatar and