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Millennium & Copthorne, MENAT is entering Arabian Travel Market 2026 with a 29-project development pipeline comprising 11,736 hotel and residence units across six markets. The pipeline demonstrates the scale of the regional growth strategy as the newly formed MENAT platform builds momentum across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. Millennium currently operates 41 hotels across 20 cities and locations in the Middle East and Africa, providing an established operating base for the next phase of regional expansion.
The pipeline comprises 5,637 hotel keys and 6,099 residence units across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Iraq, Georgia and Oman, with signed projects currently scheduled to open between 2027 and 2029. It reflects both the geographic expansion of the business and its growing diversification beyond traditional hotel operations.
The figures provide evidence of the strategy behind the MENAT platform established in February 2026 under the leadership of Ali Hamad Lakhraim Alzaabi. Bringing the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey together under a unified regional structure, MENAT provides a platform for disciplined regional growth, strengthening collaboration across markets while supporting long-term portfolio development.
Central to this strategy is Millennium’s owner-operator model
Against a subdued regional travel market in the first half of 2026, a period in which Arabian Travel Market was rescheduled following consultation with exhibitors and stakeholders amid regional disruption, the model allows the business to approach growth through both an operational and an investment lens, assessing opportunities not simply by the number of properties added, but by market fundamentals, timing, asset performance and the potential for sustainable long-term returns.
Ali Hamad Lakhraim Alzaabi, President of Millennium & Copthorne, MENAT, said: “Challenging markets test the strength of a hospitality business. For us, 2026 has reinforced the value of being both an owner and an operator. It gives us the discipline to understand where demand is real, where capital can work hardest and where the right partnerships can create sustainable long-term value. That approach is reflected in signed projects such as Grand Millennium Sumou Al Madinah in Saudi Arabia and Grand Millennium New Capital Tycoon Towers Cairo, Egypt, which represent the kind of long-term opportunities we are pursuing across MENAT.
“Our 29-project pipeline is significant, but scale alone is not the objective. What matters is executing the right projects, in the right markets, with the right partners. That discipline is how we intend to build lasting value across MENAT and strengthen our presence across the region.”
Beyond the room
Millennium’s growth strategy is also extending beyond traditional hotel operations, with residences now representing the larger share of the group’s future portfolio. Of the 11,736 units in the current pipeline, 6,099 are residences; more than half the total. Egypt is at the centre of this diversification, with 5,264 residence units alongside 600 hotel keys across nine projects, while the UAE pipeline includes a further 835 residences alongside 842 hotel keys.
Millennium Residences Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, launched in September 2025 as the group’s first branded-residences product in the region, is an example of this expanding residential proposition and its move into a complementary, hospitality-linked asset class.
Diversification also extends beyond the physical portfolio. MyMillennium now runs across three membership tiers — Classic, Silver and Prestige — with the December 2025 reciprocity partnership with IHCL’s Taj InnerCircle and the July 2026 launch of MyMillennium Kids broadening the loyalty proposition across markets and customer segments.
MENAT moves from strategy to execution
The latest pipeline builds on the decision in February 2026 to establish MENAT as a unified regional platform, bringing together the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey to support a more coordinated approach to development, operations and long-term growth.
A series of portfolio milestones has already supported this trajectory. These include the relaunch of Al Aqeeq and Taiba in Madinah in August 2025; the reopening of Grand Millennium Business Bay in September 2025; and the launch of Millennium Residences Saadiyat Island in September 2025 as the group’s first branded-residences product in the region.
The pre-opening and under-construction portfolio includes Millennium Abha in Al Abha, Copthorne Al Basateen in Jeddah, Copthorne Madinah and Grand Millennium Sumou Al Madinah in Saudi Arabia; Grand Millennium Danah Bay in Ras Al Khaimah, Millennium Talia Residences in Dubai and Biltmore Residences in Al Sufouh in the UAE; Millennium Al Sahil in Al Qurayyat, Oman; Grand Millennium New Capital Tycoon Towers in Cairo, Egypt; and the Georgia Residence Project. Several of these developments will also introduce Millennium to new cities and locations across the region.
Saudi Arabia has emerged as the group’s largest hotel development market within the pipeline, with 11 projects representing 3,579 hotel keys and 30.5 per cent of total pipeline units. Egypt represents the largest market by total future units, accounting for 50 per cent of the pipeline, with nine projects comprising 600 hotel keys and 5,264 residence units, for a total of 5,864 units.
The UAE accounts for a further six projects and 1,677 units, comprising 842 hotel keys and 835 residences. Iraq, Georgia and Oman account for the remaining 616 hotel keys, comprising 271 keys in Iraq, 285 in Georgia and 60 in Oman.
Resilience provides a foundation for Saudi growth
Saudi Arabia remains central to Millennium’s growth strategy, supported by the Kingdom’s long-term tourism transformation and the continued strength of religious tourism. Millennium’s established presence in Makkah and Madinah gives the group direct exposure to one of the region’s most resilient demand segments, and its growing pipeline in the Kingdom reflects confidence in the longer-term opportunities being created across religious, leisure, business and events-led travel.
Independent market data reinforces the resilience of the Holy Cities. According to Knight Frank’s 2026 Saudi hospitality and religious tourism report, published on 21 June 2026, Makkah remained the Kingdom’s strongest-performing hospitality market, recording an ADR of SAR 775 and RevPAR growth of 4.7 per cent year on year, supported by sustained demand from pilgrims. Madinah also continued to demonstrate resilience, with occupancy averaging 76 per cent and ADR increasing by 2.7 per cent year on year. Together, the figures point to the underlying strength of religious tourism demand and the long-term fundamentals supporting investment across the Kingdom’s wider hospitality sector.
From regional platform to regional growth
The MENAT strategy builds on Millennium’s long-standing presence in the Middle East and its established operating footprint across the region. With 41 hotels currently operating across 20 cities and locations in the Middle East and Africa, the business has an established base from which to pursue its next phase of development across MENAT.
MENAT is designed to translate the region’s strengths — international connectivity, tourism investment, infrastructure and owner confidence — into a scalable regional growth model, while maintaining discipline around brand standards, operational performance and long-term asset value. For Alzaabi, the owner-operator structure brings an additional dimension: as both an owner and a senior executive, his perspective extends beyond where the group expands to the fundamentals underpinning each investment decision, from return on investment and market timing to supply and demand, operational efficiency and portfolio discipline.
Millennium & Copthorne, MENAT will bring this perspective to Arabian Travel Market 2026, engaging with owners, investors, partners and the international travel industry on its development pipeline, emerging investment opportunities and the next phase of hospitality growth across the region.
Visit Millennium Hotels and Resorts at Arabian Travel Market 2026, from 14 to 17 September at Dubai World Trade Centre, Exhibition Hall 3, Stand HC3010.