IMEX Frankfurt was a strategic partner on a study conducted by research companies Fast Future and Global Futures and Foresight, along with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Fusion Marketing Management.
It was revealed in this report that a massive $3.63 trillion is being invested in hotels, leisure projects, aviation developments, cruise lines, tourism promotion and supporting infrastructure across the Middle East.
The study, which covers 13 Middle Eastern countries for the period to 2020, also identifies plans to invest at least $580 billion in more than 900 hotels across the region from Syria to Oman.
It also found that projected construction costs for the most recent announcements from more than 72 developers, investors and operators varied from $10,000 to $5.71 million per room. About $143 billion was expected to be spent by the regions 19 largest airlines, meaning an additional 876 planes to their fleets. The largest aircraft buyers were expected to be Emirates and Qatar Airways.
The study also looked at 19 major airports and identified a total planned investment of $38.9 billion with the 10 largest airports expecting to add capacity for at least 320 million passengers. The two largest spending airports were Dubai World Central (Al Maktoum International) at $8.2 billion and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz International at Jeddah, which is investing $8 billion.
Dubai World Central was mapped out to be the region’s largest airport with capacity for 120 million passengers, followed by Qatar’s Doha International which is aiming for a capacity of 93 million passengers.
The full Fast Future and Global Futures and Foresight report will be unveiled at The Hotel Show, taking place at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre from June 8 to 10.