There were 158,714 rooms in 554 projects under contract in the Middle East in October, an 11.7 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

According to STR’s October 2016 Pipeline Report, the Middle Easr also reported a  9.1 per cent year-over-year increase in projects under construction, with 84,477 rooms in 260 hotels for the month.

Under contract data includes projects in the in construction, final planning and planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.

The STR report also highlighted the development in Africa, which reported 57,740 rooms in 310 projects under contract, a 7.8 per cent increase compared with October 2015. The continent also reported 30,032 rooms in 164 hotels under construction for the month, an 8.3 per cent increase in year-over-year comparisons.

Among key markets in the Middle East and Africa, Makkah, Saudi Arabia (24,090 rooms in 15 projects), reported the most rooms in construction. Dubai, UAE (19,687 rooms in 67 hotels), was the only other market to report more than 10,000 rooms in construction. - TradeArabia News Service