Projects currently under construction stand at 335 projects/84,438 rooms, while projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months reached 180 projects/52,788 rooms, up 14% by projects and 12% by rooms YOY. Perhaps more telling of longer-term sentiment: early planning stage projects hit a record high of 202 projects/39,884 rooms, up 36% by projects and 48% by rooms YOY.
At the chain scale level, luxury led with a record project total of 207 projects/45,076 rooms, up 7% by projects YOY. The upscale chain scale posted even stronger growth and stands at 180 projects/52,597 rooms at the Q1 close, up 15% by projects and 18% by rooms YOY.
LE analysts report that, at the Q1 close, top Middle Eastern countries with the greatest number of projects are Saudi Arabia, with 385 projects accounting for 105,598 rooms, up 21% by projects and 24% by rooms YOY. Egypt follows with record-high counts of 157 projects and 33,446 rooms, up 26% by projects and 16% by rooms YOY. Next is the United Arab Emirates with 105 projects/25,148 rooms, Oman with 26 projects/4,451 rooms and Bahrain with 12 projects/1,900 rooms.
Cities in the Middle East with the largest pipelines at Q1 are led by Riyadh with 105 projects/20,927 rooms, up 21% by projects and 19% by rooms YOY. Jeddah follows with a record 63 projects/14,764 rooms, up 26% by projects and 42% by rooms YOY. Cairo is next with 61 projects/12,192 rooms, up 36% by projects and 19% by rooms YOY, followed by Makkah with 34 projects/22,329 rooms, up 42% by projects and 28% by rooms YOY, and Muscat with 13 projects/2,149 rooms.
During the first quarter of 2026, the Middle East opened 11 new hotels/2,516 rooms. LE is forecasting an additional 80 new hotels/15,479 rooms to open throughout the remainder of the year for a total of 91 new hotels/17,995 rooms to open by year-end 2026. By year-end 2027, LE analysts forecast 98 new hotels/20,372 rooms to open across the Middle East.
