BWH Hotels Bets on Riyadh and Da Nang as Asia‑Middle East Travel Corridor Emerges

Global hospitality group BWH Hotels is ramping up its footprint across Asia‑Pacific and the Middle East, with a 2026 pipeline that includes 11 new projects in Saudi Arabia and accelerated expansion in South Korea and Vietnam. The push reflects confidence that post‑pandemic travel patterns are hardening into a durable Asia–Middle East corridor, powered by Gulf leisure initiatives and rising outbound tourism from North Asia and ASEAN.​

After opening 200 properties worldwide in 2025, BWH plans to add 230 more hotels in 2026, focusing strongly on high‑growth markets across India, South Korea and Vietnam alongside the Gulf. In Asia‑Pacific, demand is strongest for modern, internationally branded accommodation across midscale, upscale and upper‑upscale tiers, catering to a mix of regional business travellers, digital nomads and value‑conscious leisure guests.

In Vietnam, the group is targeting coastal and secondary cities benefiting from manufacturing‑led growth and tourism diversification, such as Da Nang, Nha Trang and Ha Long. Vietnam already ranks among the region’s most active hotel‑development markets, with over 250 projects and 90,000 rooms in the pipeline as of early 2025, accounting for a large share of Asia‑Pacific’s hospitality expansion outside China. BWH sees opportunities to position lifestyle and extended‑stay concepts for younger travellers and long‑staying professionals tied to the country’s booming industrial zones.

South Korea, meanwhile, offers a different angle: inbound demand driven by K‑culture, medical tourism and MICE traffic, coupled with domestic staycation trends. BWH is expanding in Seoul and regional cities, betting that the country’s strong air connectivity and rising profiles of Korean content in the Middle East will sustain visitor growth from Gulf markets. Airlines from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have ramped up Seoul routes, and tourism boards are co‑marketing experiences that blend K‑pop, cuisine and wellness with religious and cultural trips on the Gulf side.​

Saudi Arabia is the centrepiece of the group’s Middle East strategy. The company’s 11‑hotel pipeline in the kingdom reinforces a longer‑term goal of reaching 70 properties there, spanning pilgrimage hubs like Makkah and Madinah, business corridors such as Riyadh and Jeddah, and emerging leisure destinations on the Red Sea. Vision 2030’s aggressive tourism targets—100 million visitors annually—require massive expansion in branded hotel keys, and BWH is jostling with global majors to capture share.​

The broader Asia‑Pacific hospitality pipeline underlines the scale of opportunity and competition. As of Q1 2025, the region (excluding China) had 2,074 hotel projects and more than 408,000 rooms in the pipeline, with 872 projects already under construction. India leads by project count, but Vietnam and Thailand follow closely, and the Philippines and Indonesia also show significant expected room growth, particularly in beach and resort locations.

For owners and lenders—including Gulf sovereign funds, regional banks and family offices—the key questions are yield sustainability and demand diversification. While occupancy and average daily rates have rebounded in many markets, supply additions risk overshooting in some city clusters, especially if global growth slows or geopolitical tensions affect travel. Mixed‑use projects that blend hotels with branded residences, retail and entertainment are one way developers are seeking to enhance resilience.

BWH and its peers are also investing heavily in tech‑enabled operations: mobile check‑in, dynamic pricing, loyalty analytics and AI‑assisted revenue management. These tools are crucial for managing a geographically dispersed portfolio that must flex around seasonality, currency swings and shifting source markets. As travellers from Riyadh, Dubai, Seoul and Ho Chi Minh City increasingly criss‑cross each other’s regions, brands able to deliver consistent quality with local nuance are best placed to ride the evolving Asia–Middle East hospitality wave.