The GCC region, that has been witnessing an unprecedented boom in development of new hotel properties is now adding four times as many new rooms as the global average, says a new report by hospitality data aggregator and analyst firm STR.

The six-member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council are currently building over 170,000 hotel rooms, accounting for close to 40 pc of the existing supply, says the latest report by STR, a hospitality data aggregator and analyst. This is almost four times the global average of 11 pc new hotel rooms under construction vis a vis total existing supply.

The report says that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates lead the GCC with 39,070 & 32,272 rooms respectively under construction, says the research commissioned by Arabian Travel Market, and conducted by STR at the end of September 2022.

“Between EXPO 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 strategy, the GCC’s hospitality sector development pipeline remains robust in contrast to global hotel development, which is slowing, due to weak economic growth forecasts. While the hospitality sector’s growth does highlight the region’s increasing popularity on the global stage, it is also indicative of regional government strategy, to diversify GDP growth away from hydrocarbons into tourism, that will help to drive demand still further, over the coming years,” says Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market.

The STR report estimates that over the existing room inventory of 135,560, Saudi Arabia has an active pipeline of 82,639 rooms, taking the total room numbers to over 218,000 rooms by 2030. Similarly for the UAE, STR currently tracks more than 202,000 existing rooms with an active pipeline of 48,910 rooms, a combined total of almost 251,000 rooms by 2030.

“Interestingly, Ras Al Khaimah, is second only to Dubai, with 5,076 rooms in its pipeline, almost the same amount as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah combined,” said Curtis.

The UAE’s historic occupancy performance provides a blueprint of what the region can expect as new rooms enter the market. Rooms supply increased by more than 70,000 rooms between 2010 and 2019, a staggering 68 pc increase in supply or about 6 pc average annual growth.

“With such levels of investment and development, we are expecting a marked increase in the number of GCC participants at ATM 2023, including inbound tour operators and travel agents from across the globe, as the region continues to attract growing numbers of tourists, for whom environmentally friendly and sustainable development will be critical,” adds Curtis.

According to a press statement, ATM which is the leading Middle East travel and tourism event for international inbound and outbound tourism professionals, takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on May 1-4, under the official theme of ‘Working Towards Net Zero’.

RX (Reed Exhibitions), the organiser of ATM, will celebrate its 30th annual event by unveiling a dedicated sustainability pledge, not only to make the ATM 2023 event more sustainable but to announce 30 long-term goals as ATM works towards net zero in line with the RX Global pledge, adds the statement.

ATM 2023, which aims to attract over 26,000 visitors and 34,000 participants, will offer global travel trade professionals a vision of how the travel and tourism industry will look in the coming years by sharing new and insightful commentary from experts from around the world, creating significant business opportunities over the course of the four-day event, say the organisers.

Each year, ATM highlights specific aspects of travel that will be pivotal in determining the direction the industry will take moving forward. The show will explore how innovative sustainable travel trends will evolve and identify strategies for growth within specific key vertical sectors, the organisers add.

The strategic partners for ATM 2023 include Dubai Tourism as the Destination Partner, Emirates as the official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as the official Hotel Partner and Al Rais Travel as the official DMC Partner.

ATM 2022 attracted over 24,000 visitors and hosted over 31,000 participants, including 1,600 exhibitors and attendees from 151 countries, across 10 halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre.