By Accor is betting that Makkah’s next wave of hotel demand will not come from five-star towers, but from reliable, affordable rooms. The hospitality group has signed an agreement with Saleh Abdulaziz Al Rajhi & Partners to develop ibis Makkah Al Maabdah, a 518-key economy hotel roughly three kilometres from the Holy Mosque, scheduled to open in 2031.
Key takeaways
- Accor and Saleh Abdulaziz Al Rajhi & Partners will build a new 518-key ibis hotel in Makkah’s eastern Al Maabdah district, opening in 2031.
- The project extends Accor’s footprint in the Holy City, where it already runs 15,000 rooms and has more than 8,000 further rooms in development.
- The deal targets pilgrims and residents alike, betting on Saudi Arabia’s push to reach 150 million annual visitors, including 30 million Umrah pilgrims, by 2030.
Inside the Accor Ibis Makkah Deal
The new property will sit in Makkah’s rapidly growing eastern district, offering two restaurants, a lobby lounge, 50 square metres of banqueting space and rooms starting at 22 square metres. It is a new-build project rather than a conversion, giving Accor and its Saudi partner a clean slate to design specifically around economy-segment demand.
The signing builds on an existing relationship between the two companies, which already includes the Fairmont Ramla Riyadh Serviced Residences and the Novotel Riyadh Al Wurud Hotel, currently under development. That track record likely made the ibis Makkah agreement an easier deal to close, since both sides already understand how the other operates.
Why Economy Rooms, Not Luxury Towers
Makkah’s hospitality market has historically been dominated by independent, often family-run properties rather than branded international chains. Accor’s move signals a shift: as international operators expand their footprint in the Holy City, they are increasingly targeting the value end of the market rather than only luxury.
That is a deliberate read of where demand is actually growing. Saudi Arabia welcomed 122 million visitors in 2025, and the Kingdom is targeting 150 million annual visitors by 2030, including 30 million Umrah pilgrims. Raki Phillips, Accor’s regional president for the premium, midscale and economy division, said Makkah is entering a phase where demand is becoming more year-round and more diverse, driven by longer stays, family travel and visitors from newer source markets rather than pilgrimage season alone.
Economy hotels like ibis are built for exactly that kind of steady, broad-based demand. Pilgrims and value-conscious residents need consistent, affordable quality far more than they need another five-star tower, and Accor already operates 15,000 rooms across the Holy City with more than 8,000 additional rooms in its development pipeline, evidence that the group sees room for growth across every price tier.
The Vision 2030 Backdrop
Mohammed Al Mahzari, chief executive of Saleh Abdulaziz Al Rajhi Partners, framed the project as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 tourism push and private sector participation goals. Saudi Arabia has been actively courting international hotel groups to build out capacity in Makkah and Madinah, with an estimated 218,000 hotel rooms, branded residences and serviced apartments planned across both cities.
National occupancy in Saudi Arabia’s hotel sector reached around 63 percent in 2025, a level that points to healthy underlying demand without the kind of oversupply worries that have occasionally shadowed other Gulf hospitality markets. For a group the size of Accor, a five-year runway to opening in 2031 gives it time to phase construction around visitor growth rather than rushing rooms onto the market ahead of demand.
What to Watch
The ibis Makkah Al Maabdah project will not open for another five years, which leaves plenty of time for visitor growth targets to shift alongside regional conditions. But the deal itself is a useful signal for where Saudi Arabia’s hospitality investors are placing their bets: not purely on ultra-luxury pilgrimage tourism, but on the reliable, repeatable economics of mid-market and economy hotels serving a broader, more diverse traveller base.
If that bet plays out, Makkah’s hospitality market could look meaningfully different by the early 2030s, less dominated by independent operators and increasingly built around the kind of branded, internationally consistent accommodation that Accor, Marriott and their peers are racing to build.
For more on how Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects are reshaping Gulf hospitality investment, see our coverage of Saudi Arabia’s esports industry push and the broader entertainment economy it is fueling.
Sources: Zawya, Hotelier Middle East, Vision 2030.