JEDDAH – The number of hotel rooms in Riyadh is expected to soar by 103 percent, once all projects in its active pipeline are finished, STR Global's latest data revealed. It added that in February, the Saudi capital's total active pipeline comprised 7,990 hotel rooms. In 2012, the Kingdom's tourism market was one of the fastest growing in the world, in spite of the decline in the number of visitors to the Middle East region. STR Global said that the hotel market in Jeddah is also expected to surge by 63.6 percent with 3,798 rooms in the pipeline, whereas other GCC cities, including Muscat is set to see a growth of 42 percent with 1,992 rooms to be added. In 2012, the number of visitors to the Middle East fell by 5 percent, however, the rate was better than the drop of 7 percent that was reported in 2011. Saudi Arabia's tourism market was one of the world's fastest growing in 2012 despite a slump in the number of visitors to the Middle East. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the Kingdom saw a 14 percent growth in tourism last year, the fifth best performer globally. However, results in the Middle East showed a five percent decline in visitor numbers although this was better than the seven percent decline reported in 2011. The UAE cities of Abu Dhabi (38 percent with 7,189 rooms) and Dubai (26.3 percent with 16,588 rooms) were also forecast to see strong growth. STR Global said in its February Construction Pipeline Report that the Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprised a total of 491 hotels with 120,524 rooms. — SG/Agencies
