Saudi Arabia Says Its 100 Million Visitor Goal is 'No Longer Sufficient'

Saudi Arabia’s futuristic NEOM super-city has announced another region. It is called Leyja, pitched as the $500 billion development’s sustainable and eco-tourism hub in the mountains. Leyja has no opening date or firm details on facilities, what we do know, so far, is that it will include three hotels.

After a six-month streak as Dubai’s second-largest tourism market, inbound travel from Russia is now slowing down. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Russians have been coming in droves to havens such as Dubai or the Maldives. A year on, many of those tourists have become residents in the emirate.

Multinational investment bank UBS has told its staff not to go on any work-related trips to the Middle East. The company has also hit the brakes on an event it was supposed to host in Qatar later this month, according to an internal memo that was seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by a UBS spokesman.

If you haven’t heard of Alula, don’t sweat it — the fact that it’s relatively unknown among Western travelers is just proof that it’s still mostly free from over-tourism.

While everyone is busy looking at Saudi Arabia’s flashy plans for building NEOM, the city of the future, its revolution in the realm of public transportion has gone under the radar entirely. In 2018, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia inaugurated its first high-speed railway, with trains traveling between the two holy cities of Medina and Mecca at 186 miles per hour. The Haramain High-Speed Railway is now the third train line in the country, and if government announcements come to fruition, 4,971 more miles of railway will soon crisscross the country, allowing travelers to easily see its best and biggest attractions, whether that’s the largest mirrored building in the world, or a UNESCO World Heritage site that looks an awful lot like Petra.

Saudi Arabia wants to write and uphold official “7-star standards” at its upcoming ultra-luxury Sindalah Island. The idea of ‘7-star’ anything dates back to the opening of Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel, a distinction that operator Jumeirah has never liked using, nor has the emirate officiated.

Gulf countries are forming a new “bloc” dedicated to furthering the region’s tourism sector. The much-anticipated ‘GCC zone’ unified visa should be announced by December to tie together the GCC states: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.

It was two nights before Qatar’s World Cup, and all across its stadiums, staffers were frantically removing beer stands – the country had reversed its decision to serve alcohol in stadiums.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, October 5. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

For a long time, perhaps the only comparison one could draw between Monaco and Gulf capital Saudi Arabia was a lack of personal income tax. Now, Saudi is looking to become a bit more like Monaco when it comes to its lavish yachting industry.

Dubai’s tourism corporation has just signed a long-term collaboration with Spanish football club Real Madrid. The entrepreneurial emirate linked with the team the day after it was announced that Spain will be one of the joint-hosts for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Saudi Arabia will put in its bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. To win it, the kingdom must meet new hosting requirements, including a stellar track record in human rights and a commitment to sustainability.