Five Years Since Opening for Tourism, Saudi Says it Is a Destination 'For All' in New Campaign

28.08.2024 - 21:24 / skift.com / Josh Corder

“An unexplored territory….Untouched. Uncharted.” That’s the message in Saudi Arabia’s new global tourism campaign to attract overseas travelers to the kingdom.

“This Land is Calling,” a nearly 2-minute video, showcases the conservative country as a land that has it all, from futuristic skyscrapers rising out of the desert, to cultural monuments, to luxury seaside destinations. And the core idea is that visitors can be among the first from outside Saudi to experience it.

The campaign highlights three themes of Saudi Arabia’s tourism offering across six destinations, according to the Saudi Tourism Authority’s website for the campaign. The themes are nature; culture and history; and entertainment. The destinations highlighted are The Red Sea, AlUla, Riyadh, Jeddah, Aseer and Diriyah.

“With this campaign, we hope to ignite the curiosity of the traveler who craves the excitement of a completely new experience – whether in culture, adventure, sport, or entertainment,” said Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of Saudi Tourism Authority, in a release sent to Skift. He also said the goal is that Saudi be “a destination of choice for all.”

The narrator of the video is a “solo female traveler,” an important choice as Saudi also tries to tackle concerns the country is unsafe for female tourists.

“I was the first. But I won’t be the last,” she says at the end of the video.

A key aspect of the campaign is showing that Saudi as a tourism destination can satisfy just about every kind of travelers’ taste. From modern hotels to archeological sites to sunny leisure spots you’d find in the Maldives or the Mediterranean.

Unlike Dubai, which is largely known as a luxury and shopping hub, Saudi is building nuanced pockets of experiences all over the kingdom.

Elie Milky, Radisson’s regional vice president of development, has previously noted to Skift how Saudi’s positioning in the travel market is impacting the region: “Saudi Arabia is promoting cultural heritage like Jordan has, it’s promoting mountains like Oman has, it’s promoting countrywide tourism, which now all countries need to do.”

“Saudi is a wake-up call now, it’s a reminder other countries need to be proactive. Dubai as a hub did not pose a threat to all the neighboring countries, but Saudi Arabia is so dominant that it can easily absorb business away from those other countries.”

Tourism is at the core of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) plan to transform the nation. By 2030, the goal is for 150 million visitors, with 70 million coming from outside Saudi. MBS wants tourism to be the second-largest contributor to the economy behind oil, at 10% of GDP. 

The campaign is launching August 28 in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and the United States, showing