Saudi hospitality sector emerging as new global benchmark

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.

The world’s first Global Solutions Hub, to help drive Sustainable Tourism, is launched at MENA Climate Week in Saudi Arabia.

The new Saudi Expert program is an added tool to help travel advisors sell Saudi Arabia. It is a go-to resource that will help increase your business' exposure to business and leisure tourism opportunities within the Kingdom. 

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.

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.

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.

Saudi Arabia has become a “must-see destination”, Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, said in Riyadh during the opening ceremony of World Tourism Day this weekend. “This is a country that always looks forward, and in big ways,” he continued. “Saudi Arabia is now the second-biggest place for foreign direct investment projects in all the Middle East and Africa. I’m proud to say we count on the support of Saudi Arabia.”

Saudi Tourism Authority and Ant Group have signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to explore introducing Alipay+, a suite of unified global mobile payment and marketing solutions, to Saudi Arabia, aiming to provide a seamless mobile payment experience for Asian tourists in Saudi and beyond and to further expand Alipay+’s global coverage.