Dubai and Makkah are the two cities in the Middle East and Africa region with the most number of hotel rooms under construction, according to STR's July 2016 Pipeline Report.

Makkah has 21,835 rooms in 13 hotels and Dubai has 20,882 rooms in 67 hotels under construction, STR data shows.

Two additional markets reported more than 5,000 rooms in construction: Doha (6,830 rooms in 30 hotels) and Riyadh (6,657 rooms in 30 hotels).

According to the report, in total, there are 155,899 rooms in 552 projects under contract in the Middle East and 56,227 rooms in 295 projects under contract in Africa. Under contract includes projects in the 'in construction', final planning and planning stages but does not include projects in the unconfirmed stage.

The under contract total in the Middle East represents an 18.8 per cent increase in rooms under contract compared with July 2015. Specifically in the 'in construction' phase, the Middle East reported 83,194 rooms in 259 hotels, a 12.2 per cent increase in year-over-year comparisons.

The under contract total in Africa represents a 23.8 per cent increase in rooms under contract compared with July 2015. Specifically in the 'in construction' phase, Africa reported 29,928 rooms in 155 hotels, a 21.3 per cent increase in year-over-year comparisons, the STR report said.

In the UAE, there are 26,989 new rooms in 93 hotels under construction.

According to an earlier report by STR, Saudi Arabia reported the most rooms 'in construction' among the countries in the Middle East and Africa, with 35,770 rooms in 81 hotels. Other countries with more than 5,000 rooms under construction include Qatar (7,125 rooms in 30 hotels) and Egypt (6,095 rooms in 18 hotels).

STR's June 2016 Pipeline Report shows 154,576 rooms in 550 hotels under contract in the Middle East and 55,736 rooms in 289 hotels under contract in Africa.

Dubai is set to see a massive increase of 28,000 new hotel rooms by 2018, according to JLL, a real estate investment and advisory firm. This is a further surge of 7,000 rooms from JLL's recent prediction of 21,000 new keys by 2017. With Dubai's hotel industry already hitting the 100,000-room milestone, the city aims to firmly position itself as a top 10 global destination in terms of available hotel supply.

Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) expects occupied room nights in hotels and hotel apartments to reach 36.9 million over the next three years, representing an 11 to 12 per cent compound annual growth rate to 2018 end. As such, the overall room supply is expected to reflect similar growth, reaching 138,000 rooms by the end of 2018, Dubai Tourism said in a recent statement.

-

Issac John Associate Business Editor of Khaleej Times, is a well-connected Indian journalist and an economic and financial commentator. He has been in the UAE's mainstream journalism for 35 years, including 23 years with Khaleej Times. A post-graduate in English and graduate in economics, he has won over two dozen awards. Acclaimed for his authentic and insightful analysis of global and regional businesses and economic trends, he is respected for his astute understanding of the local business scene.