The total number of hotel and apartment rooms in Qatar is expected to reach 23,000 by the end of this year, according to a report by Colliers International, a global leader in real estate advisory.

Currently there are close to 18,100 hotel and service apartment keys in Qatar, including the addition of 1,460 keys in 2015, said Filippo Sona, director, head of Hotels Mena Region, Colliers International, speaking at Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) Business Briefing.

“This is expected to grow by a further 27 per cent by the end of this year,” he added.

The growth can be attributed to the limited presence of midscale hotels and serviced apartments in Doha, presenting new development opportunities and offering owners and investors a potential opportunity to target this market gap.

Furthermore, the surge in hospitality projects this year is due to the delays in opening some hotels which were pencilled in for 2015, his report showed.

Msheireb Downtown Regeneration project is expected to add 655 keys in 2016.

Doha is predominantly a business destination, with the corporate segment accounting for more than 60 per cent of the hotel demand.

However, the region can expect to see continued slow growth in corporate demand due to a slump in oil prices and slowing economic activity. Doha’s hotel RevPAR is forecasted to decrease by 4 per cent in 2016. – TradeArabia News Service