GCC home to one mln hotel rooms by 2026, but faces hospitality staff shortage: Report

GCC home to one mln hotel rooms by 2026, but faces hospitality staff shortage: Report

The GCC will be home to more than a million hotel rooms by 2026 – with Saudi Arabiahaving the biggest share - as the region’s tourism industry grows, according to a new report.

However, the whitepaper, issued by advisory firm Colliers International, also highlights that the growth of the sector will come hand-in-hand with a hospitality staff shortage – with Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone needing more than 90,000 staff over the next few years unless more homegrown talent is trained in the sector.

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In the report, ‘Hospitality Education in the GCC with a focus on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) & the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) – Unlimited Growth Opportunities,’ the research group states that the hospitality industry in the GCC region has grown phenomenally over the past decade with inbound tourist arrivals reaching 59.7 million in 2019, growing approximately 4.1 percent during the period 2015 – 2019.

The majority of the demand is personal, leisure and religious travel followed by business and professional travel.

Growing demand

Mansoor Ahmed, executive director for the MENA region at Colliers, highlighted: “While Saudi Arabia has historically been the center for religious