Makkah (Saudi Arabia) and Dubai (UAE) are leading the boom in rooms 'in construction' for the Middle East and Africa region with 22,370 rooms in 17 projects and 19,578 rooms in 64 projects respectively, new data showed.

STR’s February 2017 Pipeline Report shows that there are 153,460 rooms in 540 hotel projects under contract in the Middle East and 58,374 rooms in 309 projects under contract in Africa.

Under contract data 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 a 1.3 per cent increase in rooms under contract compared with February 2016. Specifically in the in construction phase, the Middle East reported 83,106 rooms in 263 hotels. Based on number of rooms, that is a 3.4 per cent increase in year-over-year comparisons.

The under contract total in Africa represents a 6.1 per cent decrease in rooms Under Contract compared with February 2016. In the in construction phase, Africa reported 29,084 rooms in 159 hotels. Based on number of rooms, that is a 1.6 per cent decrease in year-over-year comparisons. - TradeArabia News Service