Article about Viability's annual (June 2014) survey of the future hotels in the GCC (Arabian Gulf) region, as declared to us by 134 chains. Includes rankings by chain and city/town, as well as individual chain rankings for Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Doha, Muscat

1. HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | July 2014 | Volume 13 Issue 07
SPECIAL REPORT
44
Viability Management Consultants’ latest survey of the future plans of hotel chains in
the GCC has revealed the largest pipeline ever registered in the 14-year history of the
research. Hotelier Middle East unveils the key findings
The Lusail Iconic Towers in Qatar.
Capella’sSolisbrandisplannedforDoha.
Hilton Worldwide tops the all-important rooms-
based ranking with 9,593 keys (30 hotels),
which compares favourably with the record pipeline
of 10,472 rooms set by Marriott back in 2009”
tion, which revealed its distribution
among no less than 34 cities and
towns across the GCC. With 28,419
keys, Dubai has more than twice the
pipeline of its nearest rival, Mak-
kah (13,724), which was followed
in the top 10 by Doha (10,777), Abu
By comparison, the previous record numbers were
registered in 2009, with 325 pipeline hotels contain-
ing 92,016 keys. 2014 was the first year in which we
conducted a full GCC survey that included all kinds
of transient accommodation letting units, i.e., hotel
rooms, suites, apartments and villas, whereas histori-
cally we had excluded the latter two unit types. We felt
it more logical to include them this time, as they have
become ‘mainstream’ for most operators.
As per the chains’ current expectations, almost
80,000 or 80% of the pipeline should materialise be-
tween 2014 and 2016, with the remainder opening
by 2019. Major deadlines like those of Expo 2020 in
Dubai and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar should help
ensure that construction programmes do not slip as
much as usual.
Some 61% of the pipeline keys will be rated five-star,
30% four-star, just 9% three-star (mainly compris-
ing the 10 Premier Inns in the pipeline), and just one
two-star property, the Swiss-Belinn Ghubrah Muscat.
However, both Wyndham Hotel Group and Emaar
Hospitality Group have significant budget hotel pipe-
DEMANDDRIVESBRANDINVASION
B y G u y Wi l k i n s o n
VIABILITY
SURVEY
lines, but these were excluded as per
the rules of our survey because they
could provide no details on an indi-
vidual property basis. Wyndham is
opening nine Days Inn hotels with a
total of 800 keys, as well as 19 Super
8 hotels totalling 900 rooms, all in
Saudi Arabia with investment part-
ners there. Both brands are new to
this region. Emaar is partnering with
another Dubai government devel-
opment company, Meraas, to open
a reported five budget hotels in the
city under a new brand called Dubai
Inn. Union Properties, another lead-
ing Dubai developer, has also prom-
ised to build 1000 ‘affordable’ hotel
rooms in the next five years. It is
worth noting that there continues to
be major investment in budget hotels
across the GCC, but mostly by own-
er-operators with no chain affiliation.
DEVELOPMENT SPREADS
INTO TERTIARY LOCATIONS
Again for the first time in the sur-
vey’s history, we provided a detailed
breakdown of the pipeline by loca-
A
ltogether, Viability Management Consultants canvassed 134 hotel chains, large and small, international and local,
that are active in this region for the 2014 edition of the GCC Chain Hotel Pipeline Survey. This was a record num-
ber, representing a 15% increase over last year. Of these, 72 companies — or 54% of the total — confirmed new hotel
projects coming up under their management. Between them, these operators will be opening 391 hotels and hotel
apartment buildings with 101,123 keys across the six GCC states between now and 2019. This is the first time ever
that the pipeline has broken the 100,000 unit barrier.
EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH

2. SPECIAL REPORT
HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | July 2014 | Volume 13 Issue 07 45
Spanish resort operator Blue Bay,
for example, which has 27 ho-
tels under six brands in Spain and the
Caribbean, will be opening two proper-
ties in Dubai, with further expansion
expected soon in other UAE emirates.”
Dhabi (9,058), Riyadh (8,954), Jeddah (7,969), Mus-
cat (4,587), Manama (3,078), Al Khobar/Dhahran/
Dammam (1,729) and impressively, Ras Al Khaimah
(1,698). Notable further down the location rankings
were many other provincial towns across the Gulf re-
gion, including Ajman and Khorfakkan in the UAE; Al
Ahsa, Baha, Hail, Jizan, Jubail, Tabouk, Unaiza, Yanbu
and Qurayyat in Saudi Arabia; and Duqm, Jebal Akh-
dar and Sohar in Oman. This reflects not only the rapid
economic or tourism development of such locations,
but also the maturing of the large chains to the extent
that they have established their key brands in primary
locations and are now seeking to develop their net-
works into secondary and tertiary communities.
MASSIVE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
2014 has seen 22 chains each declaring more than
1000 rooms under development, a figure just shy of the
peak of 23 achieved in 2009. The average number of
keys per property under development by each of the 71
chains that declared pipeline activity was an impres-
sive figure of 259.
Hilton Worldwide tops the all-important rooms-
based ranking with 9,593 keys (30 hotels), which com-
pares favourably with the all-time record pipeline of
10,472 rooms set by Marriott back in 2009. Starwood is
in second place with 7,912 keys. The other management
companies in the top 10 comprise — in order — Marri-
ott, Accor (with the largest number of hotels at 31 prop-
erties), Rotana, InterContinental Hotels Group, Millen-
The Jeddah Marriott Hotel was announced in May this year. Meraas Holding will develop the first luxury Bulgari Hotel in Dubai.
nium & Copthorne, Wyndham, Hyatt
and Golden Tulip. At 11th
place with
3,070 keys, Rezidor is ranked ninth
in the hotel ranking with 17 properties
under development.
Within the top 20, it is impressive
to see local companies Anjum, with
one single upcoming hotel in Mak-
kah boasting 1743 keys, Time Hotels
from Dubai and Bin Majid from Ras
Al Khaimah, the former now expand-
ing beyond the UAE into Doha and
Riyadh, for example, and the latter
spreading from its provincial base
into Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Among the 134 hotel management
companies to whom we requested
information this year were a number
of interesting new names. Spanish
resort operator Blue Bay, for exam-
ple, which has 27 hotels under six
brands in Spain and the Caribbean,
will be opening two properties in
Dubai, with further expansion ex-
pected soon in other UAE emirates.
Thai hotel company Centara Hotels
& Resorts, which boasts 45 Thai
properties and almost 20 elsewhere
in the Far East, in Ethiopia, Mauri-
tius, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, will
make its Gulf debut with two hotels
in Doha. The formerly one-off Emir-
ates Grand Hotel in Dubai has now
become a brand that will be featured
on a hotel apartments property in
Dubai and a hotel in Sharjah.
In Doha, The Souq Waqif Bou-
tique Hotels have grown into a group
of six jewel-like properties in the
eponymous, most attractively re-
stored historic district. In the pro-
cess, they have become a benchmark
14th continual year of survey
All chains active in the GCC are
canvassed directly
All letting units included (rooms,
suites, apartments & villas)
Excluded:
All rumoured projects
All unsigned projects
All projects with unconfirmed
room counts
All projects on hold or with uncon-
firmed opening dates
All single owner-operated
properties
Ranking Methodology
for orientally-styled boutique hotels.
A seventh property, Soy, will open
with just 19 rooms later this year.
Back in Dubai, Teal Hospital-
ity, run by former Rotana veteran
Daniel Hajjar, will open a second
hotel under its Cosmopolitan brand,
the Grand Cosmopolitan, in 2016.
Named after a famous New York
hotel, Warwick International Hotels
now has a global network of 57 prop-
erties including one recently opened
on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road. A
Doha hotel is due to open in phases
over the next few years.
MORE BRANDS THAN EVER
Viability’s research showed that
there were 140 different brands (as
distinct from the 72 chains) in this
year’s pipeline, of which 44 were
completely new to the region. In a
fast-growing, highly competitive ho-
tel market like that of the GCC, it is

3. HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | July 2014 | Volume 13 Issue 07
SPECIAL REPORT
46
natural that there should be an increase in
the number and variety of available brands.
Hotel investors want new names that help
their properties stand out from the crowd,
while operators need to add brands so that
they can offer fresh options to compete in
increasingly saturated — and product-dif-
ferentiated — destinations.
Local firms are jostling with the inter-
national chains for business. For example,
most people think of the Gulf Hotel as a
one-off five-star hotel in Bahrain. In fact,
the company also manages the K Hotel in
Manama and the Ocean Paradise Resort
in Zanzibar. By 2017, it will be running
two further ‘Gulf Hotel’-branded hotels,
one in Bahrain’s Amwaj Islands and the
other in Dubai’s Business Bay. Over the
past few months, Dubai-based Gloria took
over Mourouj Hotels & Resorts from Abu
Dhabi, and hence a new hybrid brand was
born, Mourouj Gloria, soon to be seen at
Specialist apartment-
only operators Frasers
and The Ascott, both from
Singapore, are introducing
more of their brands,
including Fraser Place, Fraser
Residence and Ascott’s mid-
scale Citadines, a popular
European aparthotel concept”
Hotelchainrankingbypipeline:numberofrooms
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Hilton
IHG
Rezidor
Viceroy
Starwood
Millennium
FRHI
Time
Marriott
Wyndham
TheAddress
Kempinski
Rotana
GoldenTulip
Anjum
FourSeasons
Others
Accor
Hyatt
PremierInn
BinMajid
an unusual hunting lodge project near Al
Ain. Emaar in Dubai, fresh from the suc-
cess of launching its Vida lifestyle brand
near the Dubai Mall, is now about to turn
the formerly independent Al Manzil Ho-
tel into an Arabesque brand called simply
Manzil. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s Rotana
will formally introduce its new branded
residence insignia, The Residences, at a
project in Doha.
Hotel or serviced apartments are an in-
creasingly attractive option for many ho-
tel operators. Specialist apartment-only
operators Frasers and The Ascott, both
from Singapore, are introducing more
of their brands, including Fraser Place,
Fraser Residence and Ascott’s mid-scale
Citadines, a popular European aparthotel
concept. In Dubai, the trend to offer ‘condo
apartments’ or hotel apartments that are
individually for sale freehold has become
a genuine phenomenon. Following the
lead of The Address and other early pio-
neers, the major Dubai developer Damac
has embraced the concept wholeheartedly,
having established its own Damac Maison
management company/brand for the pur-
pose of offering serviced apartments to its
buyers. A senior Damac executive recently
made a public statement to the effect that
it had some 9,000 such condo apartments
under development, with a major concen-
tration in Dubai’s Downtown and Business
Bay districts. Had the company elected to
Emaar Hospitality is developing the first Dubai Inn hotel.
A rendering of the Paramount Hotel Dubai.

4. HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | July 2014 | Volume 13 Issue 07
SPECIAL REPORT
48
SaudiArabia:36,880
Bahrain:3,251
Qatar:10,777
UAE:43,232
2015:29,353
2018:5,280
2014:24.418
2017:12,570
YEAR
5-Star:62,074
3-Star:8,631
4-Star:30,231
Breakingdownthepipeline
Roomdistributionbycity,country,yearandstarrating
Nobu Riyadh is hotly anticipated in Saudi Arabia. A room rendering of Nobu Riyadh.
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
Dubai
Jeddah
Madinah
Jizan
Makkah
Muscat
Sharjah
Salalah
Doha
Manama
Kuwaitcity
Ajman
Riyadh
RasAIKhaimah
AiAin
Tabouk
Others
AbuDhabi
AIKhobar
Fujairah
Sohar
36%
29%
61.4%
11%
24%
3%
3%
0.2%
1%
6%
5%
8.5%
43%
12%
29.9%
26%
Kuwait:1,147
Oman:5,836
2016:26,086
2019:3,416
2-Star:187
STAR RATING
COUNTRY
respond formally to our survey, it would
then have been very near the top of our
chain ranking – an amazing achievement
for a start-up brand.
The global chains also had interesting
brand developments to announce. Accor
will introduce its first Ibis Styles-branded
hotel at Dragonmart next year. The sub-
brand is a more colourful version of Ibis,
suitable for what the chain calls ‘non-
standardised’ buildings. Accor has also re-
cently opened its first Grand Mercure Ma-
jlis hotel, a specifically Arabian concept, in
Madinah. Mid-scale operator Best West-
ern will soon open two hotels in Saudi Ara-
bia under its upscale Best Western Premier
brand. Fellow US lodging giant Wyndham
is introducing two new mid-scale brands,
Tryp and Wyndham Garden, at properties
in Dubai and Doha respectively. Mean-
while, Dusit and Steigenburger are debut-
ing two mid-scale brands, D2 (a location
is yet to be announced) and Intercity (in
Dubai) respectively.
Gratifyingly, boutique and lifestyle ho-
tels are definitely ‘hot’ in the GCC pipeline
this year. According to the theory, they
promise an at least partial revival of the
traditional service values of the ‘grand ho-
tels’ of the past. Two operators are prom-
ising to open contemporary grand hotels:
the Oetker Collection, with its Hotel Le
Bristol, and Millennium, with its Biltmore
Hotel, planned to come up in Abu Dhabi
in 2015 and 2017 respectively. In Dubai, a

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HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | July 2014 | Volume 13 Issue 07 49
Paramount will be a new Dubai landmark.
Top10hotelchainsby
numberofpipelinehotels
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Accor
Starwood
Marriott
IHG
Rezidor
Hilton
GoldenTulip
Rotana
Millennium
Wyndham
new joint venture company established by
MGM and Abu Dhabi-based Hakkasan,
called MGM Hakkasan Hospitality is plan-
ning three lifestyle hotels – MGM Grand,
Skylofts and Bellagio – to open by 2018 at
the Dubai Pearl project facing Palm Jumei-
rah. Next door will be a lifestyle hotel un-
der the Baccarat brand of Starwood Capi-
tal (which acquired Groupe du Louvre in
2005, owners of crystal maker Baccarat).
ThebigchainsarealsoenteringtheGulf’s
lifestyle sector. Marriott has confirmed it
will debut both its Autograph and Bulgari
brands in Dubai, which will also be the ven-
ue for Wyndham’s first Dream hotel in the
region, with 720 keys within the 101-storey
Marina 101 tower, set to become the tallest
luxury hotel and serviced apartments build-
ing in the world. Another first in the region
will be IHG’s upcoming Hotel Indigo in Ri-
yadh,whileaHyattAndazhotelisrumoured
for Dubai. Rezidor has converted its former
Missoni hotel in Kuwait to its new Quorvus
brand, following a corporate ‘divorce’ from
the Italian fashion house.
Spanish operator Meliá has been ap-
pointed to manage a 100-room ME by
Meliá designer hotel in Omniyat’s iconic
95m high Opus building, designed by leg-
endary‘organic’architect,ZahaHadid. M’s
are all the rage, with Millennium promising
local launches of its trendy Studio M and
M Hotel concepts, and Accor opening its
lifestyle M Gallery concept in Doha. These
are in addition to new lifestyle hotels to
be opened soon by Morgans of New York,
Nobu (in joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s
Dhaliliyah Establishment) and Paramount,
a new Dubai-based chain working with the
prestigious Hollywood studio brand.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Guy Wilkinson is a director of Viability, a
hospitality and property consulting firm in Dubai.
For more information, email: guy@viability.ae