Giga-projects AlUla plans Nabataean resort carved into Saudi mountains Saudi Arabia is spending around $15 billion on the ancient site of AlUla, including a resort for the super-rich chiselled into the face of its rock formations and mountains. AlUla is the site of the pre-Islamic Nabataean kingdom that was based in Jordan’s Petra. The resort, called Sharaan, will include 38 suites “carved into sandstone […] July 11, 2024
Video length: 07:15 Analysis Tourism Hajj pilgrims feel the pinch as costs rise The costs of Hajj are getting ever higher for pilgrims coming from around the world to perform the annual rites, which are a duty for every able-bodied Muslim to perform once in a lifetime. Even pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, for whom the costs are cheaper, are paying around SAR23,500 ($6,266) for up to […] June 14, 2024
Transport Mecca expands public transport as Eid al-Adha nears Authorities in Mecca are expanding the public transport system to accommodate more pilgrims from abroad as the Hajj season reaches its climax next week with Eid al-Adha. The Royal Commission for Mecca City and the Holy Sites said this week it was providing 400 buses operating from four main stations around the city to manage […] June 13, 2024
Giga-projects Diriyah giga-project to open first hotel in November Diriyah, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading giga-projects, will finally open its first hotel in November along with other attractions and sites, its CEO said this week. “This November we’ll open another few kilometres of parks, we’ll open our first Bab Samhan hotel, we’ll open our first museum which is the Diriyah Art Futures Museum, we’ll […] May 16, 2024
Giga-projects Affluent tourists around the globe on Saudi Arabia’s radar Saudi Arabia will invest more than $800 billion in its main giga-projects by the next decade as part of a tourism expansion strategy focused on affluent tourists in China, India and Europe. The kingdom’s tourism minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb, speaking at the Qatar Investment Forum, said: “We’re building and investing in major destinations like Neom, Red […] May 16, 2024
Analysis Economy Saudi Arabia grapples with new penal code A legislative committee is grappling with the text of a new penal code which could cement — or jeopardise — the gains made by Saudi Arabia after it introduced a new commercial law code last year. The kingdom is trying to shake off a reputation for opaque and arbitrary justice to meet ambitious tourism and […] May 10, 2024
Opinion Lifestyle Raising Saudi Arabia’s quality of life is a work in progress Saudi Arabia's QOL programme is spurring investment in culture, heritage, entertainment, tourism and sport May 7, 2024
Analysis Tourism Pilgrims remain bedrock of Saudi tourism plans Saudi tourism is to undergo a massive expansion with religious travellers remaining its bedrock – but some hotel operators are wary of an overheated market. The kingdom is aiming to bring in 150 million visitors per year by 2030, with tourism accounting for 10 percent of non-oil GDP, playing a key role in its economic […] May 7, 2024
People & Lifestyle Saudi director’s labour of love takes the kingdom to Cannes For the first time a Saudi film has been selected to compete in the Cannes film festival, catapulting its little-known self-taught director into the limelight. Tawfik Alzaidi was so surprised that he’d managed to break through to the big time that he kept the news that his film Norah had been accepted for the ‘Un […] April 26, 2024
Giga-projects Saudi giga-project Diriyah Gate targets 2027 completion Diriyah Gate, one of the first Saudi giga-projects, said this week that it was on target for completion by late 2027. The opening of the project’s first hotel is now rescheduled for later this year. “We’re looking forward to the conclusion of our project, probably toward the end of 2027,” said Andrew Tonnor, Diriyah Gate’s […] April 25, 2024
Opinion Transport Art, beaches, culture: Jeddah commute makes sense to me Riyadh may be where the action is but serenity is found in Saudi Arabia's port city March 29, 2024
People & Lifestyle Art trumps diamonds when it comes to luxury investment For Middle East investors, works of art are worth hanging on to. Artworks have more than doubled in value over the past decade, the latest edition of the Knight Frank Global Wealth Report reveals. It was a mixed year for luxury investments last year. Whisky, cars, handbags, furniture and wine lost value. Diamonds, coins and […] March 15, 2024
Construction London architect HKS to design Diriyah’s 20,000-seat Arena Saudi Arabia has hired a London-based architecture practice to design a sports and entertainment venue in Riyadh’s historic district of Diriyah, close to the site where a landmark opera house will be built. “The architecture rises from the landscape as a series of monoliths, evoking local geological formations and alluding to ancient Nadji forts and […] March 13, 2024
Opinion Infrastructure Saving the old with the new: how tech can revive historic cities Technology can help protect heritage locations from multiple modern threats March 12, 2024
Media & Advertising Saudi Arabia sets up Big Time film investment fund Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority has set up the Big Time investment fund to support pan-Arab cinema, in Riyadh’s latest push to develop soft power through sports and culture. The authority’s head Turki Alalshikh said during a visit to Cairo that the entertainment authority would act as the Big Time fund’s main sponsor along with […] February 19, 2024
Giga-projects Jeddah Central signs contracts for major landmarks Jeddah Central, the developer of one of Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects, signed four construction contracts this week for a set of major landmarks. According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Jeddah Central’s CEO Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Saleem signed the contracts to construct a sports stadium, an oceanarium, an opera house and infrastructure work in the Red […] February 6, 2024
Media & Advertising Saudi TV fights off the smartphone challenge Smart television is holding up as the main platform for accessing sports, news and entertainment in Saudi Arabia, despite the boom in streaming services that can be watched on smartphones, a leading media researcher said this week. “In the past decade there was a lot of transformation in Saudi. New devices, behaviours and trends,” said […] January 30, 2024
Video length: 01:02 VIDEO Tourism Saudi tourism scores big with Lionel Messi video Global Google searches for “Saudi tourism” shot up at the weekend after tourism bosses in the kingdom released a new promotional video starring footballer Lionel Messi. The campaign, which is being launched in markets including Europe, India and China, focuses on overturning common misconceptions about Saudi Arabia. The video has been watched by 50 million […] January 30, 2024
Media & Advertising Coming to a movie theatre near you … AlUla It would make the perfect setting for Star Wars or Indiana Jones, but AlUla is developing production facilities that will expand its reach beyond sci-fi and desert adventure movies, making it one of the region’s prime locations for international shoots. The tourist location in northwest Saudi Arabia is fast developing into a mini-city with an […] December 24, 2023
People & Lifestyle Opera hits the high notes as Saudi’s latest cultural attraction Anyone for opera? There was a time when the last place you would expect a serious answer to this question would have been Riyadh. But after Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli’s landmark performance in Alula last year, the sky’s the limit for musical tastes of all types as Saudi Arabia strives to develop a cultural profile […] December 18, 2023
People & Lifestyle Saudi art blooms with the kingdom’s transformation The arts have undergone profound changes in Saudi Arabia over the past decade as the country has enacted wide-ranging reforms, according to a leading Saudi artist. Once silenced by religious forces and a conservative culture, female artists in particular have come to the fore through a raft of government and private sector initiatives to encourage […] December 18, 2023
People & Lifestyle Gwyneth Paltrow slides door on films to focus on Goop Gwyneth Paltrow has all but closed the door on her acting career, giving her more time to focus on her wellness brand Goop and to explore new countries such as Saudi Arabia, the Oscar winner told an audience at the Red Sea International Film Festival. “For the foreseeable future I’m at Goop. I have a […] December 18, 2023
