12 new top properties are under construction – Anjum Hotel with 1,700 due to open soon – hotel market continues booming.
MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA – For hoteliers there is one prime hotel market should one be interested in delighting Muslims: Mecca. As per today all large hotel chains are present in the holy city or are currently investing. At the moment 12 new top hotels with a total number of more than 6,000 rooms are in the construction and development pipeline. This data has been revealed in a global hotel market report issued by TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the worldwide provider of global b2b hotel data. Marriott and Hyatt are each investing in three large properties.
With more than 61,000 existing hotel rooms, Mecca is by far the largest hotel market in Saudi Arabia. For comparison: the kingdom’s capital Riyadh offers only approximately 10,000 hotel rooms and Medina just 7,800 rooms. Hotel market professionals expect an increase of 13,000 hotel rooms (+18%) in Mecca within the next three years. The haj destination, which every Muslim should visit once in his lifetime, has experienced a major hotel construction boom over the last ten years: the number of top hotels increased by 172%.
Every year approximately 22 million pilgrims and other visitors travel to Mecca (statistics from 2010) and generate a tourism-revenue of round about eight billions US dollar. On average every single guest stays 5.1 nights. The overnight stay market increases every year by 10%, the daily hotel rate increased by 11.8% and the “Revpar (revenue per available room) by 23.8%.
Adding three new top hotels Marriott International will increase its hotel portfolio in Mecca to eleven properties in total. In August 2014 the Makkah Marriott Hotel (540 rooms) will open its doors. Also a JW Marriott Makkah (636 rooms) and a Courtyard by Marriott (432 rooms) will welcome new guests within the next year. Development partner is Jabal Omar Development.
Just like Marriott does, Hyatt Hotels also cooperate with Jabal Omar Development preparing the opening of a Hyatt Regency (627 rooms), a Hyatt Place (200 rooms) as well as a hotel running under the Hyatt Summerfield Suites brand (200 rooms) during the following year.
The latest and currently most attractive hospitality hot spot in Mecca will be the 1,795 rooms Anjum Hotel. The opening is scheduled for July. The luxury hotel is just one part of the “Jabal Al Ka’aba” project run by Abdul Latif Jameel Real Estate Investment Company‘s (Aljraic), one of the leading Saudi Real Estate development companies. In total Aljreic will open several new hotels with 8,500 rooms in Saudi Arabia during the next five years investing round about 2,6 billion US Dollar.
Photo caption: Makkah Marriott Hotel – Opening is scheduled for August 2014.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
