Region heads for hotel boom
28 March 2024
This report on hotel investment also includes: GCC becomes a top tourist destination
Alongside the major infrastructure and construction schemes currently under way in the region, contractors in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) are looking forward to a significant inbound spree of hospitality-linked project work.
A combination of government-led touristic masterplans – led by expansive and ambitious schemes in Saudi Arabia – alongside private sector investment in individual hotels and resorts has led to the build-up of a $54bn pipeline of hospitality-linked projects in the pre-execution, study and planning stages across the Mena region, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects.
With this ramp up in planned hotel schemes, the region is now leading the global recovery in tourism projects, in a reflection of broader travel trends that have seen tourist arrival numbers grow to exceed pre-pandemic levels by 22%, according to GlobalData.
Projects under way
The $54bn project pipeline compares to a value of $22.7bn of work currently under execution in the region, and a long-term tally of $95.4bn-worth of hotel and resort project contract awards over the past decade and a half.
In contrast to the pace of activity since 2009, however, the region’s upcoming projects are set to be delivered in a much tighter timeframe. Almost the entire $54bn-worth of planned hotel and resort projects is scheduled or expected for award before the end of 2025 and set to be completed in advance of 2030.
This sets the stage for an intensified period of hotel investment and development over the next five years that could surpass the last investment boom cycle in 2014 and 2015, when hotel project award totals reached $9.1bn and $10bn, respectively.
Since 2009, the average annual value of hotel and resort project awards has been $6.4bn, with activity waxing and waning over the intervening period. Hotel and resort schemes fell away dramatically in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with awards reaching a low of $2.6bn in 2021. Activity then recovered in 2022 and 2023 to the above-average values of $6.7bn and $6.6bn, respectively.
So far in 2024, there have been $1.3bn of hotel and resort project awards, but there is a further $5.2bn in work under bid and set to be awarded this year. The award of those projects would take the tally for 2024 up to $6.5bn – a comparable awards total to those of 2022 and 2023. There is then an additional $15bn-worth of projects in design and due for award in 2024 on the basis of announced and expected delivery timeframes.
If the value of projects under bid and just a third of the projects under design and also provisionally due for award in 2024 are let as expected, it will be a record year for hotel project awards in the region.
Saudi investment spree
Looking at the $54bn-worth of projects split by market, the pipeline is dominated by the touristic megaprojects currently under development in Saudi Arabia, which account for $39.9bn or 74% of the total value of upcoming work.
The hotel and resort projects in the kingdom are in turn heavily weighted towards several provinces that have been targeted for touristic development. These include Tabuk Province, which has $12.6bn-worth of upcoming hospitality-linked projects as part of the Neom and Red Sea Project developments; the Medina and Mecca provinces, which together hold $16.4bn-worth of upcoming schemes linked to the annual Hajj and Umrah tourism industry; Riyadh, with $7.1bn-worth of upcoming work, including that linked to the Qiddiya masterplan; and smaller values in Asir, the Eastern Province and others.
In recent months, several hotel schemes have been announced in the kingdom. In late February, Neom announced plans for a Raffles-branded property at its Trojena mountain resort development. The hotel will be located in the Discover cluster of the resort and is slated to open in 2027. The first hotel projects at Trojena are meanwhile well under way, with local contractor Isam Khairi Kabbani Group beginning work in December on the estimated $100m Chedi Trojena, with completion expected in 2026.
In early March, Red Sea Global (RSG) announced plans for a Four Seasons hotel at its Triple Bay development at Amaala, with Dubai-based U+A Architects, owned by the French engineering firm Egis, as project architect. Four Seasons has also announced other upcoming projects in the kingdom, including a Red Sea project at Shura Island, another at Neom’s Sindalah Island and projects on the Jeddah Corniche and at Diriyah, outside of Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company has a 24% stake in Four Seasons, alongside majority shareholder Cascade Investment.
March also saw work begin on Neom’s Epicon Towers – a technically complex twin-tower hotel – with enabling works being undertaken by the local Ammico Contracting. Previously known as the Gas Station Hotel, the design for the project was developed by Singapore’s Meinhardt Group, with the Hong Kong-based 10 Design serving as the lead consultant on the project.
These upcoming schemes are set to join $7.8bn-worth of Saudi hotel projects awarded in the past three years, including $1.8bn-worth of awards in Tabuk. In July 2023, RSG awarded a contract at Triple Bay to the local Mas Engineering for the construction of the Marina Lifestyle Hotel & Village. In May, RSG contracted a joint venture of Egypt’s Hassan Allam Holding and the local Rawabi Specialised Contracting to construct the Triple Bay Rosewood Hotel.
Also in Tabuk, Hilton International opened its first Hampton hotel in March, having jointly developed the project with the Riyadh-based Cayan Group. The project was awarded in January 2022 to local contractor BEC Arabia, with Egypt’s Sabbour Consulting acting as project manager.
Elsewhere in the kingdom, the Public Investment Fund-backed Dan Company also tendered three hotels to be operated by Hilton at its Palm One project, a farm-based tourism destination in Al Ahsa. The deadline for bid submissions is 30 April. Hong Kong-based LWK Partners is the lead designer for the project.
Broader regional spending
In a prominent example of government-led hotel and resort development activity outside of Saudi Arabia, Oman has recently been progressing several new touristic masterplans.
Oman’s Heritage & Tourism Ministry issued a tender in February inviting consultants to bid to develop a tourism project masterplan for the Remal Al Sharqiyah dunes of North and South Al Sharqiyah. The tender was issued on 27 February, with a bid submission deadline of 17 April.
Earlier in February, Oman’s Housing & Urban Planning Ministry (MHUP) also revealed the designs for a new $2.4bn development on Jebel Al Akhdar named the Omani Mountain Destination and masterplanned by Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRealis.
The same month, the MHUP also announced the $1.3bn Al Khuwair Downtown and Waterfront project in Muscat, engaging Zaha Hadid Architects for the project design alongside real estate consultant CBRE.
In the UAE, much of the hotel and resort development is proceeding in a more piecemeal manner, with a greater number of smaller, more discrete touristic schemes. One major development in November was Dubai developer Al Wasl’s award of the $1.3bn contract to build The Island to China State Construction Engineering Corporation in the largest construction contract in Dubai since 2017.
The Island is a 10.5-hectare reclaimed island that will feature MGM, Bellagio and Aria branded hotels. The local APCC was the earthworks contractor, with the project being managed by Germany’s Buro Kling Architectural Engineering Consulting and the local Consultant HSS.
Another recent example of UAE project activity was Modon Properties’ award in November of the contract for a four-star sports hotel on Abu Dhabi’s Al Hudayriyat Island to Trojan General Contracting. The UK’s Atkins is the project consultant, with Canada’s Ellisdon as the project management consultant.
What is apparent from all of this activity is the clear strengthening of hotel project development as regional governments pursue tourism investments both as a long-term economic diversification strategy and one that dovetails with robust and rising visitor traffic to the region.
As long as these trends remain, strong ongoing government and private sector investment in hospitality-linked projects can be expected, and with it, the delivery of the region’s $54bn hotel project pipeline by 2030.
GCC becomes a top tourist destination
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
-
-
-
-
-
Firms submit Jeddah distribution centre bids4 May 2026
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Parsons wins role on Elon Musk-backed Dubai Loop project
4 May 2026
US-based Parsons Corporation has been appointed to deliver programme management services for the Dubai Loop transportation system.
The contract was awarded by Elon Musk-backed firm The Boring Company, which signed a construction agreement with Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in February.
Parsons’ scope of work includes independent design verification, stakeholder management, permitting and no-objection certificate (NOC) support, and multidisciplinary design reviews for the project’s first phase.
The first phase comprises a 6.4-kilometre route with four stations, linking the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Dubai Mall.
Stations will be located at DIFC 2, ICD Brookfield Place, Dubai Mall Zabeel Parking and Burj Khalifa.
The first phase is expected to cost about AED565m ($154m) and to be delivered within one year after design work and other preparations are completed. Tunnelling is expected to begin in the second half of this year.
Next phase
The second phase will connect Dubai World Trade Centre and DIFC with Business Bay.
The tunnels will extend up to 22km and include 19 stations.
The total cost across both phases is expected to be around AED2bn ($545m), with completion scheduled within three years.
The pilot route is expected to serve around 13,000 passengers a day, while the full route is projected to have a capacity of about 30,000 passengers a day.
The RTA and The Boring Company signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai in February last year to explore the development of the Dubai Loop transportation system.
The Dubai Loop is expected to be similar to The Boring Company’s Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC) Loop project. The LVCC Loop is a 2.7km underground tunnel system that connects different convention centre halls, reducing walking time across the site to about two minutes.
The LVCC Loop has been in operation since 2021. It uses Tesla Model 3 cars to carry passengers between five stations. The Boring Company began construction in November 2019 at an estimated cost of $49m.
.gif)
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16672074/main.jpg -
Humain tenders infrastructure for 6GW data centre campus
4 May 2026
Saudi artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company Humain, owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has issued a tender inviting firms to develop infrastructure for its planned 6GW hyperscale AI data centre campus in Riyadh.
The project will be delivered on an early contractor involvement (ECI) basis. Under the ECI process, selected contractors are required to submit methodologies and design proposals, after which one team will be selected to deliver the construction works.
Firms have until 8 May to submit proposals.
The development will be built on a 24-square-kilometre site in the Al-Saad area in east Riyadh. It will be delivered in two phases across six plots, each with a capacity of 1GW.
The scope of infrastructure work covers:
- Construction of 380kV/132kV/33kV electrical distribution network, two substations with a capacity of 500MVA and 200MVA, bulk supply point (2,000MVA)
- Water network and fire protection systems
- Sewage treatment plant and wastewater network
- Stormwater systems
- Roads
- Underground cable and fibre optic networks
- Landscaping works
The client is being supported by Canadian engineering firm Hatch, France’s Egis and US-based firm JLL.
Humain was launched in May last year to operate and invest across the AI value chain.
Humain is building full-stack AI capabilities across four core areas: next-generation data centres, hyper-performance infrastructure and cloud platforms, and advanced AI models, including Allam.
Also in May 2025, Humain signed preliminary deals with US chipmakers AMD and Nvidia to build multibillion-dollar advanced digital infrastructure in the kingdom.
AMD said it will invest up to $10bn to deploy 500MW of AI compute capacity in Saudi Arabia over the next five years.
In October, PIF and Saudi Aramco signed a non-binding term sheet setting out key terms under which Aramco would acquire a minority stake in Humain, with PIF retaining majority ownership.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16671267/main.jpg -
Abu Dhabi selects consortium for 2.5GW Taweelah C IPP
4 May 2026
Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access
A consortium of Al-Jomaih Energy & Water Company (Saudi Arabia) and Sembcorp Industries (Singapore) has been selected to develop the Taweelah C independent power producer (IPP) project in Abu Dhabi.
The consortium will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) in mid-May, a source told MEED.
The combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant will have a capacity of 2.5GW. It will be located at the Al-Taweelah power and desalination complex, about 50 kilometres northeast of Abu Dhabi city.
It is understood that China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) will be the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
Last September, MEED reported that state offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) had received three bids for the facility.
The bidders included:
- Al-Jomaih Energy & Water Company / Sembcorp Industries
- Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) / Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation / Korean Midland Power
- Korea Western Power Company / Etihad Water & Electricity (UAE) / Kyuden International (Japan)
At the time, Mohamed Al-Marzooqi, chief asset development and management officer at Ewec, said the bids would make Taweelah C “one of the lowest tariff CCGT projects in the region”.
The carbon-capture-ready facility had been scheduled to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2028.
This was based on the initial timeline for a PPA to be signed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Taweelah C is part of Ewec’s wider programme to support the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative and the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035.
Ewec plans to raise solar power capacity to 18GW and wind capacity to 2.6GW by 2035, while reducing the carbon intensity of its power generation by more than half compared to 2019.
Ewec is also expanding its low-carbon water desalination capacity, with the Taweelah reverse osmosis (RO) plant already operating as the world’s largest RO facility and additional projects, such as the Mirfa 2 RO and Shuweihat 4 RO, under way.
By 2030, it expects 95% of Abu Dhabi’s installed water capacity to come from RO technology.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16670622/main0858.jpg -
Dubai launches Blue Line metro tunnelling works
4 May 2026
Dubai has announced the launch of tunnelling works for the Dubai Metro Blue Line extension project.
In a post on X, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced the start of operations of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has named ‘Al-Wugeisha’.
The TBM is 163 metres long, weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and will operate around the clock. The post added that its average excavation rate ranges from 13 to 17 metres a day.
The Blue Line will connect the existing Red and Green lines. It will be 30 kilometres (km) long, with 15.5km underground and 14.5km above ground.
The line will have 14 stations, seven of which will be elevated. There will be five underground stations, including one interchange station, and two elevated transfer stations connected to the existing Centrepoint and Creek stations.
In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn ($5.5bn) main contract for the construction of the project to a consortium comprising Turkiye’s Limak Holding and Mapa Group, along with the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC).
The consortium is responsible for all civil works, electromechanical works, rolling stock and rail systems. After completing the project, it will assist with maintenance and operations for an initial three-year period.
According to an official statement, the Blue Line will have a capacity of 46,000 passengers an hour in both directions.
The project is scheduled for completion in September 2029.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16670584/main.jpeg -
Firms submit Jeddah distribution centre bids
4 May 2026
Contractors submitted bids on 26 April for an estimated SR140m ($37m) contract to build a distribution centre in Jeddah.
Saudi Logistics Services Company (SAL) launched the tender on 11 March, as previously reported by MEED. The project will cover an area of about 37,000 square metres. Egyptian firm Cosmos-E Engineers & Consultants has been appointed as the project consultant.
This tender follows the start of construction by Egyptian contractor Rowad Modern Engineering, a subsidiary of Elsewedy Electric Group, on the expansion of SAL’s facilities at King Khalid International airport in Riyadh. The scope of work includes rehabilitating and upgrading existing infrastructure, as well as constructing new supporting facilities and services.
SAL also launched the tendering process in September last year for its SR4.2bn ($1bn) logistics zone in northern Riyadh, MEED previously reported. UAE-based Global Engineering Consultants is the consultant for that development.
The logistics hub aims to meet demand for customised warehouses near King Khalid International airport and the Riyadh Metro. The project aligns with Vision 2030 and the National Transport & Logistics Strategy, which aims to strengthen the kingdom’s logistics sector and enhance Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16670338/main.gif