Saudi Giga Awards Drop to $10.6 Billion as Hotels Expand

By Daniel Okafor

Saudi Arabia has awarded $10.6 billion in giga-project contracts so far this year, extending a third straight annual decline from the $31.7 billion peak in 2023. MEED, a business-intelligence platform tracking the kingdom’s projects, puts awards at $26.7 billion in 2024 and $13.6 billion in 2025.

During a Saudi projects market webinar on Tuesday, Edward James, MEED’s head of content and research, tied the decline mainly to the kingdom’s scaling back of Neom. The pullback includes postponement of The Line and Trojena, the planned ski resort.

How much has the retreat actually cut?

Giga projects (large government-backed development schemes) account for about $117 billion of work awarded to date, according to MEED. That equals roughly 17% of the $700 billion awarded across Saudi Arabia over the past decade, on MEED’s estimates. Even at their 2023 peak, they represented only a small share of the wider construction market.

James said: “The decline in giga project awards is not the overriding reason for a drop in project awards in the kingdom.” The warning matters because overall Saudi contract awards fell to $76 billion through October from $102 billion last year. Tabuk province, home to Neom, took the hardest hit, while Riyadh still captured most spending.

The slowdown is not the whole bill. For owners and brands, a wider decline in awarded work can slow future room delivery across sectors, not merely inside government-backed schemes.

The government has said the giga-project program remains a priority for the next 30 to 40 years. That is a policy signal, not a bookings forecast. It suggests long-term continuity for project suppliers, but it does not settle the near-term pipeline.

Where is spending moving?

Most of this year’s awards went to Qiddiya and Diriyah, both on Riyadh’s outskirts, with smaller amounts to Rua Al Madinah and Roshn. For sellers, that makes Riyadh-area projects the priority for tracking future room distribution, rather than treating the program as a nationwide rollout.

MEED expects the next wave to come from King Salman International Airport, Expo 2030, and 2034 World Cup stadium work starting in 2027. The expected wave is a forecast, not an award total, but it gives hotel brands and travel sellers a timeline for tracking new supply and event-linked demand.

Why is the hotel pipeline outrunning the award cycle?

Saudi Arabia’s hotel pipeline (projects awaiting completion) grew 13% year over year to 387 projects in the second quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics. The count measures planned supply, not opened rooms, booking pace or revenue, so developers are not contracting in lockstep with the falling giga-project award total.

Most planned supply skews toward luxury, while Expo 2030 and 2034 World Cup demand points more toward midscale rooms. For owners and brands, that segment mismatch creates two revenue risks: added luxury supply can compete for high-rate business and leisure bookings, while group and event buyers may find fewer midscale options.

The 387 figure is a pipeline count, not a room count. The available figures provide no breakdown of openings, distribution commitments or sellable inventory by segment, leaving sellers to judge whether additional luxury supply will win share or merely intensify price competition.

What does security change for sellers?

Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s airport since September, including an October 10 strike that killed 13 people, add security risk to the projects Saudi Arabia is prioritizing. For travel sellers, that risk can affect booking confidence and itinerary decisions, but the cited figures include no cancellations, traffic changes or conversion effects.

The death toll is concrete; the commercial cost is not. Sellers should not turn the attacks into a revenue forecast without fresh data, and the same caution applies to pipeline statistics and government priorities: they signal potential supply, not booked demand.

Watch 2027, when MEED expects airport, Expo and stadium work to begin. If awards and hotel openings follow, sellers will learn whether Riyadh’s room mix can meet event demand without a midscale shortage. Until then, the ledger reads simply: fewer awards, more planned hotels, and a luxury-heavy test still ahead.