Country overview: Saudi Arabia’s hotel market to grow by over 73,000 keys [Infographic]

Major hotel groups are investing heavily in new projects across Saudi Arabia, according to our exclusive analysis of the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database.

No fewer than 160 hotels with 73,325 rooms will open around Saudi Arabia in the near future, according to our findings. This extraordinary growth spurt is in keeping with the country’s Vision 2030, which aims to build the tourism industry at pace so that it can contribute up to 10% of annual GDP by 2030, up from the current 3%.

We take a detailed look at the Saudi hotel pipeline and check out which new properties you’ll want to take note of.

Steady growth for Saudi Arabia’s hotel market

According to the database, 160 hotel projects are currently in the pipeline in Saudi Arabia:

40 more hotels with 12,830 rooms are scheduled to open in the remaining months of 2020, 15 of which are already in the pre-opening phase, though we should point out that this number is very much subject to change due to Covid19 and the construction delays it may cause. For 2021, 34 hotels with 17,802 rooms are in the pipeline; however, the figures may rise further if some of this year’s scheduled openings have to be pushed back because of the pandemic.

Another 19 hotels are scheduled for 2022 and will bring 11,589 rooms. And 67 projects with 31,104 rooms are already underway for 2023 and beyond.

Of Saudi Arabia’s 160 new hotels, 90 will be in the four-star segment. The remaining 70 will be in the five-star category.

Riyadh pips Jeddah to the crown

The Kingdom’s capital Riyadh is the country’s fastest-growing city in terms of new hotels, according to the database, with 44 projects and 10,602 rooms in the pipeline. Jeddah follows with 40 planned openings and 10,525 rooms, while Makkah completes the top three with 30 new hotels and a whopping 33,526 rooms.

Elsewhere, Medina will see 11 hotels open, adding 4,698 keys to the city’s offering. And the beachside destination of Al Khobar will get nine new properties with 1,917 rooms.

Holiday Inn and Millennium share the spoils

Of the international chains operating in Saudi Arabia, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and Millennium Hotels are each developing eight more properties, making them the joint fastest-growing hotel brands in the country. Their room counts look very different though – the former is adding 5,170 keys while the latter is increasing its total by 2,853.

Going down the list, Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Hotels & Resorts are both planning seven hotels with 2,383 and 2,766 keys each, and Hilton Garden Inn rounds off our top five rundown with six launches and 1,757 rooms.

Hotel projects in Saudi Arabia you don’t want to miss

While Saudi Arabia’s pipeline is full of noteworthy properties, a few stand out due to their sheer size and quality.

The database shows that the largest project on the books in Saudi Arabia is the Abraj Kudai Towers in Makkah. This mammoth 9,760-room project will consist of 12 towers, housing hotels, apartments, a shopping mall, restaurants and food courts. Its opening date was set for Q3 2021 but, as of now, it’s on hold.

On Saudi Arabia’s western coast, meanwhile, the 3,000-room Red Sea Project is another huge undertaking. It’s slated to open in late 2022 and will be home to 14 luxury hotels spread out over five islands, plus two resorts in the nearby mountains. The project will include high-end amenities such as a yacht dock, a variety of entertainment facilities, fishing infrastructure and even its own airport.

Also turning heads is the 236-room InterContinental Riyadh King Abdullah Financial District, which will be part of this new business area in the Saudi capital. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) will be a major financial centre in the Middle East and is conceived as part of Riyadh’s overall economic diversification plan. KAFD is designed to include premier office space, housing, a financial academy and recreational facilities.

Last but not least, and marking the debut of Rove Hotels in Saudi Arabia, the 240-room Rove King Abdullah Economic City will be the first hotel under the contemporary midscale lifestyle hotel brand outside the UAE. It will feature guest rooms, fitness centres for women and men, and a wide range of lifestyle amenities that underpin the brand values of Rove Hotels to deliver reliable, modern and super-efficient hospitality services that appeal to all.

Let’s take a look at some more hotel projects in Saudi Arabia: