Saudi Arabia’s Hotel construction boom . . .
According to local media, the Saudi Construction & More Boom not only remain unabated , 2 years on from the oil price drop but is to the contrary getting to know some kind of spurt growth. So much so that the Saudi consultative (Shoura) council in a bid to rid the country of certain crimes, all presumably related to, has targeted non-Saudis who do not own Saudi and / or non-Saudi companies so as not allow them buying property in Makkah, Madinah or Riyadh.
The ban is also aimed at protecting as they put it, the two holy cities from corruption and severe punishments will be handed to violators, the council added.
All at the same time, the Saudi authorities are reportedly considering plans to introduce a new mechanism that will compare all the countries 10.4 million number expats’ remittances to their respective income.
In the meantime, the hotel sector mostly owned by multinational chains is part and possibly the main actor of the current construction boom in Saudi Arabia will evidently be affected by the above mentioned pieces of legislation in the making.
Construction generally and that of the hotel in particular is being led by Makkah, according to a new report of TOPHOTELPROJECTS that was commissioned by The Hotel Show Saudi Arabia 2016 with the Abraj Kudai large development in Makkah.
The Report held that the development is of some 24,133 rooms with Riyadh coming next with 10,053 rooms and Jeddah with 6,890 rooms with a majority of rooms forecast to open over the next five years. It adds that Makkah is ranked second in the MENA behind Dubai which currently has 43,714 rooms at some stage of development.
In Makkah, the Abraj Kudai scheduled for opening in 2019 will remarkably add on its own some 10,000 new rooms to the market. The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group amongst numerous others are also involved as one of the top 10 international brands with the most projects currently under development throughout Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile the $1.3 billion Saudi-UK offer for three hotels in London and New York has as lately reported by the media as a bid valuing the assets below market price. The bid for the London’s Grosvenor House Hotel together with a majority stake in New York’s Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels owned by the jailed Indian businessman was made by a consortium of Saudi and UK family wealth funds last July 27th.
All media reported that the owner’s representatives were unhappy with the offer because they found it disrespectful and lacking in seriousness and that they stand within their rights to reject this bid.
