Tourism Oman awards $600m contracts for tourism projects Oman has awarded contracts worth more than $600 million to build three tourist resorts and an adventure park as it steps up efforts to compete with its Gulf neighbours for hospitality revenue and create jobs for its citizens. “This is another important milestone to attract more tourists in the country and property investors as part […] May 26, 2025
Analysis Artificial Intelligence AI adoption could help meet ambitious Vision 2030 targets Construction companies in Saudi Arabia are increasingly looking to artificial intelligence to reduce waste and speed up delivery times, industry experts say. AI software is already in use in the country to help speed up the design and development of billions of dollars in projects. But increased adoption of cutting-edge technology is needed to meet […] May 26, 2025
Tourism Skills shortage a concern for Saudi’s big-ticket events Saudi Arabia’s tourism and hospitality sector is suffering a skills shortage which it urgently needs to address before hosting some of the world’s biggest events, the CEO of one of the kingdom’s giga-project companies said. Of these events, perhaps the biggest is the 2034 World Cup. But before that lies a host of others as […] May 23, 2025
Tourism Qatar opts for PPP to build beachfront tourism project The Qatari government is seeking collaboration with private companies to develop a beachfront tourism project, which will reportedly include a theme park. The QR20 billion ($5.5 billion) Simaisma project will house the Land of Legends theme park, resorts and a golf course, Qatar Tourism chairman Saad Al-Kharji said at the Qatar Economic Forum this week. […] May 23, 2025
Real Estate Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa to invest $4bn in Oman Talaat Moustafa Group, a leading Egyptian real estate developer, says it will invest OR1.5 billion ($3.9 billion) in Oman to expand in the GCC region after entering Saudi Arabia last year. Two projects will be developed in west Muscat, offering 13,000 residential and hotel units, the company said in a statement. The developer has signed […] May 20, 2025
Analysis Tourism Turkey cruising towards growing tourist trade Turkey is working hard to improve its appeal as a holiday cruise destination, adding new ports of call for visiting ships and developing broader itineraries to take advantage of the country’s 8,000 kilometre-long coastline and diverse historical and natural beauty spots. With advance bookings already up on last year, Turkey’s tourism industry is bullish about […] May 18, 2025
Opinion Tourism Mickey Mouse meets the Middle East in Abu Dhabi The UAE's new Disney park will increase consumer spending across the emirate May 15, 2025
Retail Lulu profit and revenue up as online sales grow by quarter Net profit of Lulu Retail, the largest grocery retailer in the GCC, increased in the first quarter of 2025, supported by higher online sales. Net profit grew 16 percent year on year to $70 million, with net profit margin rising to 3 percent, up 25 basis points annually, the retailer said in a statement published […] May 14, 2025
Tourism Turkey could receive 5 million UK tourists this year More visitors from the UK are expected to visit Turkey this year, thanks to the long summer season and the expansion of Antalya airport. British tourists could reach 5 million this year, British envoy to Ankara Jill Morris told the state-run Anadolu Agency. She said the number of UK visitors rose from 3.3 million in […] May 13, 2025
Retail Spinneys targets expansion in UAE and Saudi Arabia Supermarket operator Spinneys plans to expand its network further in the UAE and Saudi Arabia this year as online sales and a bigger spend per customer drove revenue in the first quarter of the year. The top line rose 11.3 percent year on year to AED906 million ($247 million) in the first three months of 2025. Like-for-like […] May 13, 2025
Analysis Retail Dollar rebound offers little relief to UAE retailers The dollar has jumped in the past 24 hours but it is still trading at around an eight-month low, at least against the euro. For Gulf oil producers, most of whose currencies are pegged to the US currency, the weaker dollar poses a challenge. “The dollar has been part of the collateral damage as investors […] May 13, 2025
Tourism Red Sea Global’s airport ‘racing towards completion’ Red Sea International Airport will be “fully operational” within “a couple of months”, according to an executive at Red Sea Global. The airport “is racing towards completion”, said Ben Edwards, group head of cost, commercial and procurement at the Saudi resort developer. “We’re gradually seeing the network of flight operations increasing as the demand in […] May 13, 2025
Tourism Best Western Hotels to increase Saudi footprint Best Western Hotels and Resorts plans to increase more than six-fold the number of hotels it operates in Saudi Arabia to tap a growing market in domestic and international business and leisure travel, the Arizona-based company said. BWH currently runs seven hotels, has 21 under development and is targeting as many as 45 by the […] May 12, 2025
Retail Ramadan sales support Talabat’s top-line growth Talabat, the Dubai-listed online food ordering and delivery company, said its top line rose more than a quarter in the first three months of this year, supported by growth in the grocery and retail segments during the holy month of Ramadan. Net profit nearly tripled to $103 million in January to March period from $24 […] May 12, 2025
Retail Emarat customers can soon use crypto to pay for gas Customers at some of Emarat’s service stations across the UAE will soon have the option to pay for their gas and snacks in cryptocurrencies. Emarat has partnered with UAE crypto trading platform Crypto.com to allow merchants to use cryptocurrencies at their checkouts, the company announced on LinkedIn this week. Initially, 10 service stations will be […] May 9, 2025
Tourism Saudi smaller cities could give best return on investments Growth in the hospitality sector of the Middle East and North Africa has outpaced that of other regions, driven by expansion in Saudi Arabia’s tourism market. The kingdom, which has increased its annual tourism target from 100 million to 150 million visitors by 2030, is undertaking a country-wide $110 billion dollar investment drive. While the […] May 9, 2025
Leisure & Hospitality Wynn says UAE casino on track despite delays to US projects Wynn Resorts has said its $5 billion integrated resort in the UAE is progressing on schedule, even as the Las Vegas casino operator delays hundreds of millions of dollars in other projects due to rising construction costs linked to new Trump tariffs.` While gambling remains prohibited under UAE federal law, the 47-storey resort on Al […] May 9, 2025
Analysis Tourism Riyadh wants the world to visit the ‘Arabian Highlands’ of Aseer The streets of Abha become festooned with lilacs and mauves throughout May, when the city’s 25,000 jacaranda trees come into bloom. Pockets of purple burst throughout the hilltop capital of the southern province of Aseer, bringing an increasing number of tourists. Aseer’s botanical diversity has helped it become the fastest growing tourism prospect in Saudi […] May 8, 2025
Video length: 04:54 Leisure & Hospitality Disney to open theme park in Abu Dhabi The Walt Disney Company has announced that it is partnering with Abu Dhabi’s leisure-focused developer Miral to build a theme park in the UAE capital. The resort, Disney’s first in the Middle East, will be on the waterfront of Yas Island. It will be the US company’s seventh theme park around the world and the […] May 8, 2025
Leisure & Hospitality Uber enters Turkey’s food delivery sector with $700m buyout Uber Technologies will foray into Turkey’s food delivery sector as part of its expansion plans. The company has agreed to acquire an 85 percent stake in Alibaba-backed Trendyol Group’s Go online meal and grocery delivery business in Turkey for $700 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025 following regulatory […] May 7, 2025
Business of Sport Abu Dhabi doubles down on global sports investment Manchester City may have lost its grip on the English Premier League title this season, but Abu Dhabi has no intention of relinquishing its power in the sporting sphere. The emirate has unveiled two major deals this month that underscore a strategic push to remain a dominant player in the fast-evolving sports business, even as […] May 6, 2025
Tax Tax incentives for Morocco stadium construction bids Morocco is offering tax incentives of up to 30 percent, as it looks to attract private sector partners for large scale projects such as the infrastructure needed ahead of its co-hosting of the World Cup in 2030. “Morocco offers incentives that can reach up to 30 percent of the total investment amount,” Karim Zidane, Morocco’s […] May 5, 2025
