Middle East hotel construction pipeline reaches new all-time high project counts at Q2 2025

 

PORTSMOUTH, NH – The Q2 2025 Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report for the Middle East, from Lodging Econometrics (LE), reveals that, as of Q2, the hotel construction pipeline in the region reached a new all-time high of 650 projects with 161,574 rooms. At the close of the second quarter, the region’s pipeline is up 7% by projects and 10% by rooms year-over-year (YOY).

At Q2 2025, hotel projects currently under construction in the Middle East stand at 337 projects/86,447 rooms, up 12% by projects and 7% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 147 projects/45,457 rooms, up 31% by rooms YOY. Projects in the early planning stage stand at 166 projects/29,670 rooms, up 2% by projects YOY.

New project announcements in the Middle East at the second quarter close stand at 48 projects/10,567 rooms, while new construction starts stand at 32 projects/8,587 rooms, up 23% by projects and 38% by rooms YOY. Additionally, combined hotel renovations and brand conversions reached record totals at Q1, with 67 projects/14,768 rooms.

The luxury chain scale achieved all-time high totals with 196 projects/43,942 rooms, while the upper upscale chain scale reached record project totals with 150 projects/38,357 rooms. Together, these top two chain scales account for 55% of projects and 56% of rooms in the region’s pipeline.

LE analysts report that, at Q2, the top Middle Eastern countries with the greatest number of projects are Saudi Arabia, with a record 342 projects and 92,187 rooms. Egypt follows with 127 projects and a record-high room count of 28,172 rooms. Next is the United Arab Emirates with 100 projects/25,470 rooms, Oman with 27 projects/4,709 rooms, and Qatar with 16 projects/3,473 rooms.

Cities in the Middle East with the largest pipelines at Q2 are led by Riyadh with 88 projects/18,152 rooms, Jeddah with 56 projects/12,627 rooms, Dubai with 53 projects/13,726 rooms, Cairo with 48 projects/10,715 rooms, and Makkah with 29 projects/18,323 rooms.

For the first half of the year, the Middle East opened 14 new hotels/4,327 rooms. LE is forecasting an additional 89 new hotels/19,269 rooms to open throughout the remainder of the year for a total of 103 new hotels/23,596 rooms to open by year-end 2025. By year-end 2026, LE analysts forecast 94 new hotels/19,019 rooms to open across the Middle East, with another 91 hotels/22,631 rooms forecast for 2027.

Tags: Lodging Econometrics, Middle East