Saudi Arabia and Egypt Power Radisson Expansion as Serviced Residences Reshape Regional Hospitality

Image generated with Ai

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are emerging as important pillars of Radisson Hotel Group’s expansion across the Middle East and Northeast Africa as the hospitality company builds a broader portfolio of hotels, resorts, residences and extended-stay accommodation.

The expansion reflects a significant change in the regional hotel market. Traditional hotel rooms remain important, but developers are increasingly looking at accommodation that can serve travellers staying for longer periods, families requiring additional space and corporate guests seeking a more residential experience.

Radisson Hotel Group strengthened its Middle East and Northeast Africa business considerably during 2025, adding thousands of rooms through openings and new development agreements.

The strategy is particularly visible in Saudi Arabia, where the company is expanding alongside the Kingdom’s rapidly developing tourism sector. Egypt also remains an important growth market as international hotel operators pursue opportunities connected with leisure, business and resort tourism.

Radisson Added Thousands of Regional Rooms

Radisson recorded a major year of development across the Middle East and Northeast Africa in 2025.

Its regional portfolio expanded by approximately 4,500 keys during the year. This included more than 3,200 keys secured through new signings and about 1,300 rooms brought into operation.

The development pipeline covers several accommodation formats rather than concentrating on a single hotel category.

These include:

• City hotels
• Resorts
• Serviced apartments
• Branded residences
• Lifestyle hotels
• Convention properties
• Mixed-use developments
• Extended-stay accommodation

This diversification is important because travel patterns across the region are changing.

Business travellers, international tourists, families, religious visitors and long-stay corporate guests do not necessarily require the same accommodation.

Radisson is positioning different brands and property formats to address those separate markets.

Saudi Arabia Becomes a Major Growth Engine

Saudi Arabia is one of Radisson’s most important development markets in the region.

The company said in 2025 that its Saudi portfolio had reached 47 properties in operation and under development.

Radisson has also established a target of reaching 100 hotels in Saudi Arabia by 2030.

That ambition reflects the enormous transformation taking place across the Kingdom’s tourism and hospitality sector.

Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in tourism under Vision 2030, with new leisure destinations, entertainment projects, business districts and infrastructure being developed alongside the established religious travel economy.

Radisson’s strategy consequently stretches beyond conventional city hotels.

Riyadh Shows the Shift Towards Serviced Residences

One of the clearest examples of Radisson’s evolving strategy is in Riyadh.

Radisson Collection Residences, Riyadh opened in May 2026 on King Fahad Road.

The luxury serviced residence contains 170 accommodation units, including suites, penthouses and villas.

Rather than functioning as a conventional hotel alone, the property has been developed around residential-style hospitality.

It combines larger accommodation spaces with services travellers normally associate with upscale hotels.

Facilities include dining, wellness amenities and meeting spaces.

This format allows Radisson to target both short and longer stays.

That distinction is becoming increasingly important in cities such as Riyadh, where major infrastructure projects, international business activity and tourism investment can generate demand from visitors staying considerably longer than a traditional weekend or short business trip.

Extended-Stay Travel Becomes a Bigger Radisson Priority

Radisson’s interest in serviced accommodation is not limited to the Middle East.

The group says it now has more than 70 serviced-apartment properties either operating or under development globally.

Its serviced-apartment model can be developed as a standalone property or incorporated into broader hospitality projects.

In August 2026, the company took another step by launching Long Stays by Radisson Hotels.

The global programme is designed around extended-stay demand, particularly from corporate travellers and business partners.

It brings participating hotels containing apartment units into a more unified long-stay offering.

For travellers, the appeal is straightforward.

Longer stays often require different facilities from short hotel visits. Guests may want more living space, cooking facilities and accommodation that feels less temporary.

For hotel developers, extended-stay products can also diversify demand.

Egypt Remains Important to Northeast Africa Expansion

Egypt represents another strategic market for Radisson.

The country combines several types of tourism demand.

Cairo serves business, cultural and international travel, while Red Sea destinations attract large numbers of leisure visitors.

Egypt also possesses a powerful heritage tourism sector centred on its archaeological attractions.

This allows hotel companies to consider different property formats depending on location.

Urban hotels can target business and cultural travellers, while resort developments can focus more heavily on leisure demand.

Radisson has previously identified Egypt among its priority African growth markets and continues to include the country in its broader Middle East and Northeast Africa development strategy.

Africa Portfolio Passes a Major Milestone

Radisson’s regional expansion forms part of a much larger African growth programme.

In April 2026, the group announced that its African portfolio had exceeded 100 hotels in operation and under development.

More than 15 hotels representing roughly 2,500 rooms had been signed during the previous 12 months.

The pipeline includes city hotels, resorts and conversion projects.

Radisson identified Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria among its priority African growth markets, while its expansion has also included new market entries.

This demonstrates that the company’s African strategy extends well beyond Northeast Africa.

The broader goal is to build scale across both established tourism markets and countries where international branded hotel supply remains comparatively limited.

Mixed-Use Projects Give Hotel Developers More Flexibility

Mixed-use development is becoming increasingly significant for international hospitality groups.

Instead of building a standalone hotel, developers can combine accommodation with residences, apartments, retail, offices or other components.

This approach can diversify the commercial model of a project.

Radisson’s development strategy explicitly includes mixed-use opportunities alongside resorts, lifestyle properties and conventional hotels.

Serviced apartments can also operate as part of mixed-use developments.

For travellers, this can create accommodation that sits somewhere between a traditional hotel and a residential property.

For owners, different components can potentially serve different customer groups and lengths of stay.

Middle East Portfolio Continues to Expand

Radisson’s Middle Eastern ambitions extend well beyond individual openings.

In 2025, the group said its regional portfolio was approaching 100 hotels in operation and under development and that it was working towards 150 hotels, resorts and serviced apartments by 2030.

Saudi Arabia accounts for a significant share of this strategy.

However, development activity across the wider region demonstrates that Radisson is pursuing multiple sources of demand.

These include:

• Leisure tourism
• Religious tourism
• Corporate travel
• Meetings and events
• Long-stay business travel
• Luxury tourism
• Family holidays
• Resort travel

This diversified demand helps explain why Radisson is developing several accommodation formats instead of relying entirely on conventional hotels.

Hospitality Expansion Follows Tourism Investment

The expansion also reflects the wider transformation of tourism across the Middle East.

Countries across the region are investing in airports, entertainment, cultural attractions, resorts and destination infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia is particularly important because tourism development forms part of its wider economic diversification programme.

Hotel companies are positioning themselves to serve the expected increase in domestic and international demand.

But rapid development also creates competition.

Radisson is operating in markets where many of the world’s major hospitality groups are expanding aggressively.

The company therefore needs properties capable of appealing to different traveller segments while also offering owners viable development models.

Serviced apartments, conversions and mixed-use developments give the group additional options.

Radisson Expansion Signals a Changing Regional Hotel Market

Radisson Hotel Group’s development strategy across Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the wider Middle East and Africa shows how the definition of a hotel is changing.

A traveller may still book a traditional room for a short city break.

But another guest may stay for several weeks and prefer an apartment. A family may want a serviced residence. Leisure travellers may choose an integrated resort, while corporate visitors could require accommodation close to a business district for an extended period.

Radisson is building its pipeline around these different needs.

Saudi Arabia provides one of the clearest examples, with ambitious national tourism development supporting demand for new hospitality products.

Egypt adds a major Northeast African market with strong cultural, urban and resort tourism potential.

The wider African portfolio is expanding at the same time.

The result is a regional growth strategy built not simply around opening more hotels, but around creating different kinds of places for travellers to stay.

As tourism investment accelerates across the Middle East and Africa, serviced apartments, branded residences, resorts and mixed-use developments are likely to play an increasingly important role alongside the traditional hotel room.