Analysis Tourism Kuwait Entertainment City targets Gulf tourism rivals Kuwait Investment Authority taking over a planned Entertainment City development in the nation’s capital is the latest sign of an upturn in its commercial real estate sector, according to experts. Authorities first announced the nearly $660 million (KWD 200 million) project in October 2019, then relaunched it in May 2023. A study at the time […] August 27, 2024
Analysis Construction Mena hotel construction to focus on Saudi Arabia and Egypt The Middle East and North Africa is forecast to see a rapid increase in hotel construction over the next 12 months, led in particular by high-end properties in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, new industry data suggests. During the second quarter of 2024 there were 607 projects and 147,088 rooms in the overall regional pipeline at […] August 27, 2024
Giga-projects Red Sea Global to open Thuwal island resort in weeks Saudi giga-project Red Sea Global will open hotels at a second site within weeks and more at a third location will open next year, the luxury resort developer said this week. The company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), will open a private island called Thuwal just north of Jeddah, followed by […] August 23, 2024
Aviation UAE airports post 14% rise in passenger traffic The UAE’s airports handled nearly 72 million passengers in the first half of 2024, a 14 percent increase from 63 million a year ago. The breakdown includes 20 million arrivals, 21 million departures, and 30 million transit passengers, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported The General Civil Aviation Authority director-general Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi […] August 21, 2024
Tourism Tourist spending in Saudi Arabia hit new high in 2023 Around 27 million international tourists spent SAR141 billion riyals ($37.6 billion) in Saudi Arabia in 2023, the highest figure yet. The international spending, published on X by the ministry of tourism, was a 44 percent rise on 2022 and compares to the previous high of SAR103.4 billion spent by 17.5 million inbound tourists in 2019, […] August 15, 2024
Tourism Surge in Yemeni visitors to Oman The tourism sector in Oman recorded a 5 percent year-on-year increase in visitors to 2 million visits in the first half of 2024, up from 1.9 million visits recorded over the same period in 2023. Visitors from Yemen more than doubled, to just under 108,000, from 52,000 in the first half of 2023, Omani local […] August 14, 2024
Opinion Tourism Oman adopts right approach to ambitious tourism targets A focus on more sustainable options differentiates it from the competition August 9, 2024
Tourism ‘Space balloon’ to launch from Saudi Arabia Spain’s Halo Space said this week that Saudi Arabia will be one of the regular launch sites for its commercial near-space balloon project, giving a boost to ambitious Saudi tourism plans. An unmanned test flight will take place in the second half of September from a location in the Al-Aflaj oasis 330km south of Riyadh, […] August 9, 2024
Business of Sport Football continues to attract tourists to Qatar Qatar’s strategy of staging major sporting events continues to reap economic benefits, as regional football tournaments help to attract tourists to the Gulf state. Visitor numbers rose 28 percent in the first half of 2024, benefitting its hotels and wider hospitality businesses. A total of 2.6 million international tourists visited in the first six months […] August 8, 2024
Leisure & Hospitality Casino operator Wynn buys more land in Ras Al Khaimah Wynn Resorts, the Las Vegas-based hospitality operator building the Gulf region’s first casino on Ras Al Khaimah’s Al Marjan Island, has closed a deal to bank an additional 70 acres of land in the emirate for future development. The disclosure was made during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Wynn Resorts made a significant […] August 7, 2024
Aviation Dubai Airports raises 2024 traffic forecast to 91.8m Dubai Airports, the operator of the world’s busiest international hub, has revised its annual passenger forecast for 2024, projecting a record 91.8 million passengers, up from the 91 million forecast in May this year. This revision follows an 8 percent year-on-year increase in passenger numbers during the first six months, totalling nearly 45 million. “We […] August 7, 2024
Media & Advertising Turkey’s Instagram ban hits $57m-a-day ecommerce trade For four days and counting, Instagram has been blocked in Turkey – not only putting a dent in the social lives of millions of users but also placing additional pressure on an economy under strain. Turkish regulators gave no reason when they imposed a ban on the Meta-owned platform on August 2. However, the shutdown […] August 6, 2024
Tourism Oman tourism body reports huge profit rise Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran Group), the executive arm of the sultanate responsible for delivering the 2040 National Tourism Strategy objectives, has reported a record performance for 2023. Omran’s net profit amounted to almost OMR32 million ($82 million) last year, a year-on-year increase of 199 percent, the result of “outstanding operational performance” and a renewed […] August 6, 2024
Aviation Egypt to bring in private airport management Egypt is offering contracts to private companies to manage selected airports in an effort to attract investment into the aviation sector and improve services for travellers. The newly appointed civil aviation minister Sameh Al-Hafni announced the move in a meeting with key ministry officials, and subsequently released them as a statement via the Egyptian cabinet […] August 5, 2024
Tourism GCC tourists spent $4bn in Saudi Arabia last year Nine million visitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries spent more than SAR15 billion ($4 billion) in Saudi Arabia last year, as the kingdom expands its portfolio of tourism attractions. Bahrain was the top GCC source market, with 3.4 million tourists, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the tourism ministry’s annual statistics report. […] August 5, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Leisure & Hospitality RAK Properties considering hospitality IPO RAK Properties, Ras Al Khaimah’s largest publicly listed property developer, is assessing a separate stock market float for its rapidly growing hospitality business, its CEO Sameh Muhtadi told AGBI. The company, which trades on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, is expanding its hotel portfolio and says it has letters of intent from two major hotel […] August 5, 2024
Analysis Leisure & Hospitality Recruitment a sticking point for Gulf hospitality The tourism industry is expected to support the creation of thousands of jobs in the UAE and wider GCC this year, yet hospitality firms might struggle to fill many of these vacancies. Heightened competition, the physical and emotional intensity of the work, and more flexible professional alternatives are among the factors luring prospective staff in […] August 2, 2024
Leisure & Hospitality Jordan Hotels profit drops amid regional conflict Jordan Hotels and Tourism Company reported a 23 percent decline in net profit for the second quarter of 2024 as a result of revenue decline amid conflict in Gaza. The company’s profit stood at JD247,123 ($348,703) in the April to June period compared with JD320,035 a year ago, Reuters reported, citing an Arabic disclosure on […] July 30, 2024
Opinion Business of Sport Hosting the Olympics is set to be a marathon for Gulf bidders If Qatar and Saudia Arabia bid for 2036 they face a race against time to train medal-winning talent July 29, 2024
Tourism Dubai tourism flourishes as visitor numbers rise by 9% Dubai attracted 9.3 million international visitors in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 9 percent. The emirate hosted just over 17 million international visitors last year, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported, citing data from the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism. Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of Dubai Department of Economy […] July 29, 2024
Analysis Tourism Corporate travel rising as Dubai plays perfect host Dubai has won 175 deals so far this year that will boost the emirate’s corporate and business travel sector over the next four years. The events, representing an increase of almost a quarter year on year, include international conferences, congresses and meetings. They’re expected to bring more than 92,000 delegates to the city, according to […] July 29, 2024
Opinion Tourism Salalah must consider the locals in Oman’s tourist push The city’s one million visitor target seems ambitious in an area with a population of less than 450,000 July 23, 2024
