Middle East Hotel Construction Pipeline Reaches Record-High Project and Room Counts at Q3 Close

PORTSMOUTH, NH – November 11, 2026

According to the Q3 2026 Middle East Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the region’s total hotel construction pipeline stands at a record-high 771 projects/188,960 rooms at the close of the third quarter, up 17% by projects and 15% by rooms year-over-year (YOY).

Projects under construction stand at 329 projects/82,594 rooms, accounting for 43% of projects and 44% of rooms in the total pipeline. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months reach a record-high 184 projects, with 53,675 rooms, up 14% by projects and 11% by rooms YOY, and represent 24% of projects and 28% of rooms in the total pipeline. Projects in the early planning stage stand at 258 projects and a record-high 52,691 rooms, increasing 55% by projects and 84% by rooms YOY, and account for 33% of projects and 28% of rooms in the total pipeline.

The luxury, upscale, and upper upscale chain scales each reach record-high project and room counts at the close of the quarter. Luxury leads with 213 projects/47,150 rooms, accounting for 28% of projects and 25% of rooms in the total pipeline. Upscale follows with 197 projects/55,307 rooms, then the upper upscale chain scale with 191 projects/45,677 rooms. Combined, the luxury and upscale chain scales total 410 projects/102,457 rooms, up 12% by projects and 11% by rooms YOY, and account for 53% of projects and 54% of rooms in the region’s total pipeline.

New project announcements (NPAs) in the third quarter total 66 projects/14,841 rooms. Combined hotel renovations and brand conversions stand at 95 projects/26,052 rooms, increasing 20% by projects and 29% by rooms YOY.

Saudi Arabia leads the region’s pipeline with record-high counts of 401 projects/109,320 rooms, up 15% by projects and 16% by rooms YOY, and accounts for 52% of projects and 58% of rooms in the total pipeline. Egypt follows with record highs of 192 projects/40,661 rooms, increasing 47% by projects and 42% by rooms YOY. The United Arab Emirates stands at 111 projects/26,800 rooms, followed by Oman with 27 projects/4,618 rooms and Iraq with 10 projects/2,331 rooms.

Cities with the largest hotel construction pipelines are led by Riyadh, with record-high counts of 114 projects/23,049 rooms. Cairo, Egypt follows with 71 projects/14,663 rooms, then Dubai with 65 projects/15,067 rooms. Jeddah follows with a record-high 63 projects, accounting for 14,384 rooms, then Makkah with 34 projects/22,109 rooms. Combined, the top five cities total 347 projects/89,281 rooms, up 23% by projects and 19% by rooms YOY.

Through the third quarter of 2026, the Middle East has opened 36 new hotels accounting for 6,319 rooms. LE forecasts an additional 28 new hotels/4,091 rooms to open in Q4, bringing the 2026 total to 64 new hotels/10,410 rooms. Looking ahead, LE forecasts 94 new hotels/14,716 rooms to open in 2027 and 96 new hotels/22,101 rooms to open in 2028.

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