Ashleigh Donald, co-founder of Halo Business Consulting explains how integrated resorts are raising the bar for MENA tourism

Integrated resorts are not a new concept. However, they are rapidly becoming one of the most consequential development models shaping the future of global tourism. The category encompasses pioneering Asian destination resorts, Singapore’s tightly regulated urban model and the Middle East’s bold new wave of mixed-use destinations. Moreover, it has evolved far beyond the traditional hotel. For hospitality leaders in this region, that evolution demands attention.

LPGA Tour A different approach

The stakes are straightforward: integrated resorts are redrawing the lines of competition. The market is no longer defined solely by room counts, restaurant quality or service standards. Instead, the strongest destinations adopt a different approach. This includes weaving together hospitality, entertainment, wellness, retail, culture, events, branded residences and leisure infrastructure, for example, into
a single, coherent guest experience. For hoteliers who have long measured success through RevPAR alone, it additionally demands a significant shift in thinking.

LPGA Tour From hotel asset to integrated resort

An integrated resort is more than a luxury hotel with a spa and several dining outlets. Rather, it is a curated destination ecosystem giving guests multiple reasons to arrive, stay, spend and return. The hotel remains a critical component, but it is no longer the sole commercial driver.

Rooms, F&B, retail, events, wellness, attractions, sport, cultural programming, branded residences and sometimes gaming all contribute to the revenue architecture. Indeed, the goal shifts from selling a stay to capturing value across the full guest journey. Performance metrics evolve accordingly. Thus, total revenue per available room (TrevPAR), ancillary spend per guest, length of stay and repeat visitation become equally important measures of success.

LPGA Tour Laguna Phuket: the enduring blueprint

Long before the current wave of Gulf mega projects, Laguna Phuket set the template with its launch in 1987. Spanning 1,000 acres of reclaimed former tin-mining land along Bang Tao Bay, it transformed an abandoned site once considered too polluted to develop into Asia’s first integrated resort. Once complete, this single destination combined hotels, private residences, golf, beach leisure, lagoons and shared guest infrastructure.

Having worked at Laguna Phuket in the 2000s, I saw first-hand how powerful this thinking can be when operationally connected. Tellingly, the guest experience was never confined to a single hotel. Rather, it was shaped by the broader destination: the landscape, movement between properties, dining, leisure facilities and sense of place. That remains one of the most important lessons for developers in this region today. Integrated resorts work best when they are not simply built at scale, but operated as a living, connected ecosystem.

LPGA Tour Singapore’s tourism reset

Singapore then elevated the model into something globally recognized. Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa repositioned the city-state’s entire tourism proposition by combining world-class hospitality with entertainment, retail, MICE facilities and gaming. Importantly, they did this within a carefully regulated framework. The Singapore Tourism Board’s whole-of-government approach involved coordinating policy, infrastructure, destination marketing and regulation. This, in turn, became as important to the resorts’ success as the properties themselves.

Indeed, Marina Bay Sands, which opened in 2010, continues to evolve. Las Vegas Sands’ planned USD 8 billion expansion proves the point. The huge project encompasses a fourth hotel tower, luxury suites, a major arena, expanded gaming and significant conference space. It also underscores a critical truth: the best integrated resorts are never truly finished. Rather, they are living destinations that grow and adapt with their markets. In this way, the lesson for the Middle East is clear. Integrated resorts achieve their greatest impact when anchored in national tourism strategy, not developed in isolation from it.

LPGA Tour The Middle East’s next chapter

While mindful of the frameworks established in Asia and Las Vegas, the Middle East is forging its own expression of the integrated resort. Shaping that direction are economic diversification goals and luxury tourism ambitions, for example, alongside entertainment reform, wellness culture and national vision strategies.

Notably, the development pipeline reflects the scale of this ambition. The Middle East hotel construction pipeline reached a record 710 projects and 176,402 rooms at the end of Q4 2025, according to Lodging Econometrics. Moreover, as supply grows, differentiation will depend less on room count. Instead, the strength, coherence and originality of the surrounding destination will be key. Two projects in particular illustrate the breadth of this emerging model.

LPGA Tour Wynn Al Marjan Island: embracing entertainment

Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah is the most closely watched integrated resort development in the GCC. Scheduled to open in 2027, the resort sits on a 60-hectare island in the Arabian Gulf, less than 50 miles from Dubai International Airport. Wynn Resorts secured the UAE’s first commercial gaming operator’s license. Consequently, that aspect will attract industry attention.

But the deeper significance lies beyond gaming. Wynn Al Marjan Island represents a new competitive benchmark for the region. Together, hospitality, entertainment, beach, dining, events and leisure combine to create a destination driven by multiple, mutually reinforcing demand streams. For regional hoteliers, it signals that the standard is moving from luxury property to integrated experience.

LPGA Tour The Red Sea’s regeneration model

Importantly, not every integrated resort needs to be entertainment-led. For example, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea project offers a compelling alternative: nature-led, wellness-focused and built around regenerative principles. Red Sea Global’s destination will ultimately feature 50 hotels and approximately 8,000 keys by 2030. Its plans include 16 resorts set to open by the end of Phase One, alongside 1,000 residential properties. Crucially, the project demonstrates that the integrated resort framework is genuinely flexible, whether coastal, desert, urban, wellness-led or conservation-anchored. What links these varied expressions, however, is the deliberate orchestration of multiple experiences and revenue streams within a single, carefully curated destination identity.

LPGA Tour The operational reality

The commercial opportunity is significant, but so is the complexity. Integrated resorts are portfolios of interdependent businesses, frequently opening in phases under multiple brands and operating models. Hotels, restaurants, wellness facilities, retail, events, residences and entertainment attractions each carry their own resourcing, procurement, licensing, technology and commercial requirements. The guest sees one seamless destination. However, behind the scenes, the operator is managing an intricate network of businesses. Ultimately, the operators who thrive will be those who hold that complexity together without sacrificing coherence or accountability.

Similarly, integrated resorts will not make standalone hotels irrelevant. Boutique properties, urban luxury hotels and independent resorts retain powerful advantages in personality, intimacy, local authenticity and service culture. But they will need to think more expansively. Initiatives could include stronger local partnerships, curated wellness collaborations or neighborhood storytelling, for example. More broadly, event strategies that extend the guest relationship before, during and after the stay are key.

The integrated resort has come a long way from Laguna Phuket’s pioneering lagoons. For the region, the central question has shifted from what hotel are we building to what destination are we creating. How much of the guest journey can we meaningfully own also requires thought. With the ambition, capital and tourism momentum this region commands, opportunities to set genuinely new global benchmarks are real. The work now is to ensure these destinations are not only spectacular in scale, but coherent in operation and authentic in identity.