Hotels to multiply across Middle East and Africa

The Middle East and Africa is set for a flood of new hotel construction this year.

Branded hotel chains are expected to claim the lion's share, according to the US-based STR Global.

There could be 133 more hotels with 34,931 rooms within the region in the rest of the year. Of these, 11,557 rooms in 39 hotels would come from unaffiliated hotels.

Among the branded hotel chains, the luxury segment would come up with 6,855 rooms, the upper upscale segment is expected to open some 6,950 rooms, and the upscale segment is expected to supply 6,639 rooms.

As per STR's classification, the luxury category includes the Thai chain Anantara, which has a presence in Abu Dhabi and would open a facility in Dubai in September, as well as the British hotel group InterContinental.

In the UAE the InterContinental Hotels Group has seven hotels in development, which includes three InterContinentals, one Crowne Plaza and three extended stay properties under the Staybridge Suites brand. All of them are scheduled to open three to five years down the line.

The Middle East and Africa region has 483 hotels totalling 118,713 rooms in the pipeline, according to an STR Global Construction Pipeline Report.

Next year, the market can expect about 140 hotels with 30,924 rooms to come online. Most of the rooms are expected to open in the upper upscale segment, with 11,269 rooms in 38 hotels, followed by the luxury segment with 6,186 rooms in 28 hotels, and the upscale segment with 5,909 rooms in 30 hotels, the report said.

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Strait of Hormuz

Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.

The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.

Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.

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Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.