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Saudi Arabia World Cup 2034

All the news, analysis and insight on the upcoming Saudi Arabia World Cup 2034

Al Haram Mosque and Kaaba, Mecca. With Saudi Arabia aiming for 150 million tourist visits by 2030, Best Western is expanding to service increasing demand, including religious travellers

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 […]

Falling oil prices and a growing budget deficit may force Saudi Arabia to prioritise completion of the more time-sensitive Vision 2030 projects such as Riyadh Expo in 2030

Saudi Arabia to ‘roll with the punches’ on oil price

Saudi Arabia may have to tighten its reins on spending on the back of a decline in international oil prices, analysts have said. The country’s first-quarter budget deficit of SAR59 billion ($16 billion), reported this week, was the biggest in three years. “A deficit was broadly expected, says Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial […]

Hotel giant HWI will introduce multiple brands, including the renowned Steigenberger, to Saudi Arabia's growing tourism sector

H World International plans Saudi hotels development

H World International, a major hotel developer, will open multiple new properties in Saudi Arabia, including a branch of its 95-year-old Steigenberger brand. “We are about to announce much more development in Saudi Arabia, specifically around Riyadh,” said Siegfried Nierhaus, the hotelier’s Dubai-based vice president and head of development for the Middle East, India and […]

Saudi Arabia is prioritising tourism investment across the whole kingdom to achieve its ambitious goal of 70 million overseas visitors by 2030

‘Tourism is the new oil’, says man trying to bring 150 million people to Saudi

Investment in tourism will remain a priority in Saudi Arabia despite falling oil prices and increased budgetary pressures, according to the kingdom’s top industry official. The underserved three-star and four-star hotel sector is a particular focus, Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority, told AGBI.  “The darker it gets, the more reason we should […]

FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2023

Saudi ticketing app webook plans European expansion

Riyadh-based Webook, which describes itself as Saudi Arabia’s largest booking platform for events and experiences, says it is expanding beyond the Middle East into Europe to tap a growing market for ticketing. Set up in 2016 under the name Hala Yalla, Webook initially focussed as a service to book football pitches, before expanding to include […]

Yasir Al Rumayyan, the governor of PIF at the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational. Some PIF budgets have been cut by as much as 60%

PIF spending cuts slow giga-projects and trigger layoffs

Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) has ordered deep spending cuts across more than 100 of its companies, slowing projects and triggering layoffs, people familiar with the matter have told AGBI. The sovereign wealth fund at the heart of the government’s economic transformation strategy is mandating a minimum 20 percent reduction in 2025 […]

Person, Football, Sport

Stadium naming rights for sale ahead of World Cup

It is early days yet but the commercial case for local and international private sector companies sponsoring sports arenas in Saudi Arabia may yet emerge, after the 2034 host of the Fifa World Cup opened its stadiums to naming rights. For the moment, however, it looks as if state-backed companies with a mandate to promote […]

Blair Kinghorn of Scotland scores a try against Australia at Murrayfield. The sides will compete in rugby's new Nations Championship, to be sponsored by Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways signs $97m deal to sponsor new rugby tournament

Qatar Airways has agreed a $97 million deal to sponsor the new World Rugby Nations Championship. The eight-year deal will cover the qualifying matches and finals for the first four editions of the rugby union tournament from 2026 to 2034. The agreement is the biggest title sponsorship in international rugby, according to The Guardian. The […]

Saudi Arabia has spent billions on consultancy, including drawing on Western companies, but spending is likely to fall

End of ‘blank cheque’ culture for Saudi consultancy

Saudi Arabia remains a boom town for the global consultancy industry, but experts have warned it is no longer the land of milk and honey for international operators and there is now a tighter hold being placed on budgets. The Saudi consultancy market, the largest in the GCC, expanded by 18.2 percent in 2023 with […]

People celebrate after Saudi Arabia is awarded the 2034 World Cup. As well as new stadiums, the country is preparing 134 training centres

World Cup contractors may have to register in Saudi

Foreign companies hoping to capitalise on Saudi Arabia’s SAR100 billion ($26.6 billion) World Cup preparations must be registered in the kingdom, according to the chief executive of a leading Saudi-based investment company. “Don’t waste time offering services from abroad,” said Mohammed AlQahtani, CEO at Saudi Arabia Holding Company, a private equity firm in Riyadh, in […]

Sheffield United Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Prince sells English football club to US consortium

Saudi Arabia’s United World Group, led by Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has sold its interest in the English Championship side Sheffield United. The club, currently sitting at the top of the table heading into the busy Christmas schedule of fixtures, has been taken over by the American consortium COH Sports for […]

Saudi Arabia's sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, celebrates as Fifa confirms Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host

Saudi Arabia wins 2034 Fifa World Cup bid

Fifa, the world football governing body, has officially named Saudi Arabia as the host nation for the 2034 World Cup.  The kingdom submitted its bid to host the event in July under the slogan “Growing. Together” after Fifa invited bids from countries in Asia and Oceania last year. The only country in contention, Australia, did […]

Riyadh's new road network aims to reduce hours lost in traffic gridlock and improve average trip durations

Parsons signs deal to improve Riyadh’s road network

US company Parsons Corporation has won a contract to manage the development of Riyadh’s road network, as the Saudi capital city gears up to host Expo 2030 and the Fifa World Cup 2034. The $53-million three-year contract was awarded by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) to the New York Stock Exchange-listed company, which […]

Saudi world cup risk Fifa president Gianni Infantino, right, with the Saudi Arabian minister for sport, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, and the president of the Saudi football federation, Yasser Al Misehal

Fifa praises ‘impressive’ Saudi World Cup 2034 bid

The vast construction projects proposed by Saudi Arabia for the 2034 Fifa World Cup are impressive, but present a medium risk of not being completed in time, football’s governing body Fifa has warned. In a 110-page bid evaluation document, Fifa’s inspection team said Saudi Arabia must invest “significant effort and time” to fulfill its ambitious […]

Rio Ferdinand, pictured at the Qatar Grand Prix, said in a statement that Koora Break 'innovates through fan engagement'

Rio Ferdinand invests in Saudi sports platform

Rio Ferdinand, the former England and Manchester United footballer, has invested in a Saudi sports platform.  The Ferdinand Group (TFG), a sports and entertainment investment company owned by the ex player, acquired a minority stake in Koora Break, described as the fastest-growing football app in the Middle East and North Africa. No specific financial terms […]