Hilton plans 85 Saudi hotels after 30% Middle East revenue drop

Key Points

1. Hilton says regional revenues fell about 30% in the second quarter after the Iran conflict began.
2. The group expects Middle East revenues to return to prewar levels next year, an executive told The National.
3. The expansion signals operators are treating the wartime slump as temporary rather than structural.

The latest:

Hilton is pressing ahead with an aggressive Middle East expansion despite a sharp wartime revenue hit, including a pipeline of 85 new hotels in Saudi Arabia. Simon Vincent, the company’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told The National that regional revenues fell roughly 30% in the second quarter after the Iran conflict erupted, but should recover to prewar levels next year.

Details:

• The numbers: Hilton’s Middle East revenues dropped about 30% in the second quarter of this year, according to Vincent’s remarks to The National. He tied the decline directly to the outbreak of the Iran conflict, and said the company expects the regional business to return to prewar levels next year.
• The pipeline: Vincent said Hilton is on track to more than double its regional portfolio to over 230 hotels. Saudi Arabia carries the largest share of that growth, with 85 new properties in the pipeline, making the kingdom the anchor of the group’s Middle East build-out.
• The executive’s read: Speaking on the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Vincent said developer demand has held up through the disruption. “There’s still appetite to build new hotels,” he told the newspaper, framing the revenue fall as a short-term shock rather than a change in the investment case.
• The UAE response: Abdulla bin Touq, the UAE minister of economy and tourism, used the same Dubai event to announce two major tourism marketing initiatives. He did not set out their budgets or timelines in the remarks reported by The National.
• The ministerial framing: Bin Touq told guests the UAE had spent the past 50 years building the foundation for its recovery. He said the country had been in the middle of the storm and had maneuvered through it, adding that the UAE is ready whenever storms hit its shores.
• The venue: Both sets of comments came at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, the region’s main hospitality trade gathering, where operators and governments set out investment and marketing plans for the year ahead.
• The timing: The reported slump covers the second quarter, the period immediately following the outbreak of the Iran conflict. Hilton’s recovery forecast points to next year, meaning the company is not projecting a full rebound within the current financial year.
• What is not stated: Hilton did not disclose an opening schedule for the 85 Saudi properties, the value of the investment behind them, or which of its brands the new hotels will carry. No breakdown of the regional revenue decline by country was given.

Between the lines:

The gap between a 30% quarterly revenue fall and a plan to more than double the regional portfolio is the story. Hilton’s own forecast of a return to prewar levels next year, paired with Vincent’s account of continued developer appetite, suggests the group is reading the conflict as a demand interruption rather than a lasting repricing of Gulf hospitality risk.

What’s next

Watch Hilton’s next quarterly results for whether regional revenues begin recovering from the second-quarter low, and for any opening dates or brand allocations attached to the 85 Saudi properties.