. Riyadh – Mubasher: Dur Hospitality Company CEO Badr Al Badr expected demand for Saudi Arabia's hotel rooms to rise in the coming period.

Hotel rooms in the kingdom currently amount to 84,000, as well as 64,000 keys are forecast to be added, Al Badr said. 

The Saudi market has the ability to attract hotel investments, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing the CEO as saying during Saudi Arabia Hotel Investment Conference (SHIC).

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage's (SCTH) efforts have contributed to transferring the tourism and hospitality sectors into key sources for the oil-rich nation's economy over few years, Al Badr added.

There are various investment opportunities in the housing sector, such as hotels and furnished apartments, BenchMark chairman Jonathan Worsley stated.

Worsley forecast that demand for the three- and four-star hotels to increase largely over the next three years, instead of luxury hotels.

The international firms, which are operating tourism housing utilities in the kingdom, jumped to 32 last year, up from 20 companies in 2008, while hotels’ reached 1,620 by the beginning of 2017, compared to 1,470 during 2014, SCTH’s statistics showed.

About 60% of the 143 undergoing hotel projects will be inaugurated this year, in addition to completing different categories of hotels with estimated investments of SAR 143.9 billion by 2020, according to SCTH's report.