JEDDAH: Makkah has been witnessing a huge influx of businessmen and investors interested in the holy city's real estate development. The flow of Muslims during Haj and Umrah leads to a boom in hotel construction. More than 2.5 million pilgrims flow to Makkah annually to perform the Haj. Those who visited in recent years have already witnessed the change in the city with luxury hotels and the high-rise residential buildings. Many high-rise buildings near the Haram have been built by Jabal Omar company with a total cost of more than $5.5 billion. Additionally, Hilton and other hotel chain companies will open 26 new hotels to add to the city 13 thousand rooms. The growing investment in Makkah was brought to the fore Sunday at the opening of the three-day Makkah International Urban & Infrastructure Development Event at the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events. Dubbed "Future Makkah", the event will discuss, among others, the opportunities and challenges in key areas such as hospitality and tourism development, modernization plans, utility requirements of the region, land development, financing prospects, demand for health services and equipment, and transport development. The Saudi Fransi Bank indicates that investment of government and real estate development companies in Makkah and Medina will amount to approximately $120 billion over the next 10 years. Today, some projects, costing $20 billion, are under way in Makkah. Saudi Arabia has recently unveiled the Makkah Development Plan that will allocate over SR100 billion for projects encompassing the infrastructure, utilities, investment, financing, real estate and tourism sectors. The Plan has created an overwhelming demand for large-scale projects across a wide range of industries, opening up major opportunities for local, regional and international developers, investors, financiers, contractors, architects, designers and infrastructure operators looking to expand their business interests in the Kingdom.
