Travel in city Riyadh

Leaders from across the global tourism sector will meet in Riyadh tomorrow for this year's World Tourism Day (WTD).

Hotels in the Middle East are performing really well with the highest occupancy rates in the world, said a senior director of global data benchmarking firm STR.

As Future Hospitality Summit 2023 kicks off, Hilton has announced plans to increase its presence in the Middle East by more than 125% in the years ahead.

The tone for this year’s Riyadh Season has been set following the huge success of the much-publicised and highly charged London face-off between Tyson Fury, the current WBC Heavyweight champion, and unbeaten MMA champion, Francis Ngannou.

Details of the speaker lineup have been revealed for this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD), to be held in Riyadh from 27th – 28th September. With more than 500 government officials, industry leaders and experts from across 120 countries set to descend on Riyadh for the event, the level of attendance demonstrates the significance of WTD 2023 in charting the future of the global tourism sector’s growth.

Stargazing is a time-honored tradition that has been an integral part of history in Saudi Arabia for millennia. The night sky was a crucial navigational tool in the vast and often featureless stretches of Saudi’s desert. Just as sailors use stars for navigation at sea, Bedouins relied on them to find their way across the sand. Those traditions are still honored today, and if you’re interested in learning more about the culture while enjoying the outdoors and vast star-studded sky, there are few locations in the country that can rival the natural beauty and vastness of AlUla.

Saudia will become the first airline to operate in and out of the Red Sea International airport (RSI). This is after the airline signed an MoU with the Red Sea Global (RSG) and daa International.

A UNESCO committee has decided not to add Venice to the organization’s World Heritage List in Danger, disregarding a recommendation from experts and sparing the Italian government from an embarrassing verdict on the city’s condition.

The next generation of Saudi Arabian hotels is coming, marked by the opening of the Kingdom’s multi-billion-dollar giga-projects. Marriott is showing what is possible at these spare-no-expense properties: Asking for the highest room rates in the country.

In the second quarter of 2023, the Middle East’s hotel construction pipeline has seen significant growth, marking its highest project count since the first quarter of 2020, according to Lodging Econometric’s Middle East Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report.

A partnership between Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and VisitBritain, Britain’s national tourism agency, has seen a 25% boost in bookings to Great Britain.

Yes, you could easily fly to Paris – say, on Jet Blue, and bien sur – dine at a terrific bistro.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) is set to get a AED 6 billion-AED 10 billion ($1.6 billion-$2.7 billion) mega expansion in the next 5-7 years.

Three direct weekly flights between Jeddah and Osh, the second-largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Route supporting push for increased connectivity between Saudi Arabia and Central Asia

Travel and tourism in the Middle East and Africa region, the focus of another recent region-specific research study by m1nd-set, is experiencing a robust revival, according to the Swiss travel and travel retail research agency.

UNESCO has recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger. 

We used to talk in pre-pandemic years about how travel is moving East, with the epicentre and greatest volumes of travel no longer happening in North America or Europe, but in Asia. The pandemic has shifted that momentum back somewhat, and the Middle East has really taken on the role of connecting parts of the world.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Monday plans to transform Riyadh airport into a massive aviation hub with six parallel runways and designed to accommodate up to 120 million travellers by 2030, state news agency SPA reported.

Saudi Arabia announced its masterplan for King Salman International Airport — touted to be one of the world’s largest airports. Public Investment Fund, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, will build the more than 57 square kilometres airport, and it will include the current King Khaled airport. With plans for six parallel runways, and including the existing terminals, the airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million travelers by 2030. By 2050, the airport is expected to accommodate up to 185 million passengers and process 3.5 million tons of cargo. The masterplan would boost Riyadh’s position as a global logistics hub, stimulate transport, trade and tourism, and act as a bridge linking the East with the West. The new airport is expected to contribute $7 billion annually to the country’s non-oil gross domestic product and to create 103,000 direct and indirect jobs, in line with Saudi’s Vision 2030 objectives. The kingdom has plans to attract 100 million annual visits by 2030.

Hertz has been a remarkable turnaround story of the pandemic, during which it went into a massive bankruptcy, came out of it under an investor group led by Knighthead Capital and Certares, and then went public a year ago.

Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta considers himself amazed at level of growth he’s seen in the Middle East’s hotel industry during his roughly 40-year career. Nassetta described the commitment officials in the region have made to travel and tourism as extraordinary during his appearance at the recent Skift Global Forum East in Dubai, adding he views Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as markets for significant growth.