MENA's massive hotel pipeline falls short of Europe's guestroom numbers

Europe is set for substantial future hotel industry growth. According to STR’s October 2017 Pipeline Report, the region's current pipeline has 274,743 guestrooms in 3,035 hotel projects currently in development. The date focuses on projects that are under construction, in the final planning stage and in the planning stage. However, the survey excludes unconfirmed hotel development projects.

Following STR’s acquisition of AM:PM, STR’s UK and Ireland databases now include properties that weren't previously listed, such as Independent hotels with fewer than 10 guestrooms. In turn, project numbers in the pipeline surged along with year-over-year comparisons. 

Europe's hotels reported 96,517 guestrooms in 770 projects that have moved into the construction phase for the month. Five key European markets recorded more than 3,000 guestrooms under construction. London, England leads with 7,720 guestrooms in 78 projects currently under construction. In second place, Munich, Germany follows England with 3,982 guestrooms in 19 projects in the construction phase. Istanbul, Turkey's pipeline comes in third with 3,867 guestrooms in 20 hotel projects being constructed. Meanwhile, Moscow, Russia has 3,618 guestrooms in 16 hotel projects that have already broken ground. Rounding out the list, Dublin, Ireland's pipeline currently under construction totals 3,152 guestrooms in 31 hotel projects.

In STR’s October 2017 survey of the MENA’s development pipeline, the region reported fewer numbers of hotels in development, despite rises in totals for the Middle East. The Middle East's hotel pipeline totaled 166,774 guestrooms across 580 hotel projects in development—a 5.1-percent rise in guestrooms in development compared to the same period last year. Hotel projects in the construction phase surged by 18.1 percent YOY to 99,790 guestrooms in 314 hotel projects. However, Africa’s pipeline suffered a 4.6-percent decrease in guestrooms in development compared to October 2016 with 55,094 guestrooms in 299 projects in development. Africa’s projects currently under construction also saw a sharp decrease by 11.4 percent YOY with 26,599 guestrooms in 149 projects. 

Five markets in the Middle East and Africa region reported more than 4,000 guestrooms that have already broken ground. Dubai, UAE ranked the highest with 29,226 guestrooms in 95 hotel projects in construction. Saudi Arabia’s holy city Makkah has 23,1791 guestrooms in 18 projects from its pipeline are in the construction phase. Doha, Qatar took third place with 8,878 guestrooms in 38 projects in construction while Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s pipeline has 6,349 guestrooms in 29 projects currently under construction. Claiming the final spot in the list, Abu Dhabi, UAE reported 4,124 guestrooms in 12 projects are currently under construction.